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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 







GENERAL JOHN A. SUTTER. 



THE LIFE AND TIMES 



-OF— 



Gen. John A. Sutter 



(I L_l_ U SX R AT E: D) 



Revised and Enlarged Edition 



T. J. SCHOONOVER 



SACRAMENTO, CAL. : 
Press of Bullock-Carpenter Printing Co., 1019 Ninth Street 

190? 






•r- ,1 I. HIM. , .. 

jLIBRARY of CONGRESS 
I OneGoov Received 
I J\n 9 1908 

P.OT ,*•. ■ 



To the memory of the 
California Pioneers this 
work is dedicated by 

The Author. 



7^ 




T. J. SCHOONOVER 



Entered according to Act of Congress. 

in the office of the Librarian, 

At Washington, D. C, in the year 1895, 

By T. J. Schoonover. 



l^REFACE. 



In preparing this narrative my aim lias been to pre- 
serve fidelity to truth. That it contains errors there 
can be no doubt. I hope, however, to be found fairlv 
correct. Some of the episodes introduced may appear, 
at first, extraneous and irrelevant. A faithful en- 
deavor to acquaint the reader with the environments of 
Mr. Sutter and with the political prejudices prominent 
in our country during his time, suggested them. I 
believe every episode used herein will aid the reader in 
his conclusions. 

The men whose biographies are briefly sketched, 
were significant figures in building an empire in the far 
west. Their names will be associated forever with 
the land their genius, enterprise and courage honored 
and adorned. Eulogy will wreathe them with laurels 
till gifted pens are laid aside and eloquent lips are 
mute. Imperfect, indeed, must be the biography of 
Sutter that makes no allusion to the exploits of Benja- 
min Halliday. His enterprises made it not only pos- 
sible, but pleasurable to travel over the western world, 
even where the solitude of sleeping centuries was un- 
broken save by the warwhoop of the savage, the scream 



ii Preface. 

of the panther, or other tuneless and startling echoes 
of the wild. 

John Butterfield, Esq., another interesting pioneer 
and builder of the west, is entitled to recognition 
here. As well omit the keystone of an arch. His 
Overland Stage facilitated mail transportation across 
the continent and helped to people the west with some 
of the brainiest men that ever lived. And then the 
"Pony Express", — how can that be omitted? Caravan 
freighting from the Missouri River to the Sacramento 
is and always will be an interesting subject. 

To induce young people to familiarize themselves 
with the early history of their own loved country, I 
have sought to weave into my narrative a few threads 
of those facts which are somewhat tinged with ro- 
mance. I ventured upon this course, however, with 
much reserve. Many great names and enterprises I 
should be solicitous to remember but forego the pleas- 
ure for want of space. 

For the continued courtesies of Honorable Winfield 
J. Davis of Sacramento, and of Miss Eudora Garoutte 
and Miss Annie Lowry of the historical department of 
the California State Library, and of Miss Retta Par- 
rott of the Free Library of Sacramento City, I wish to 
express my grateful acknowledgment. 

THE AUTHOR. 



SUTTER'S FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE. 



A Swiss family by the name of Sooter moved into 
Kandern in the Grand Duchy of Baden in the autumn 
of 1800: To this family the subject of this narrative 
was born. As the event occurred at midnight, the 
last day of February and the first day of March 1803, 
share alike the honor of ushering into active life him 
whose name, like Tell's, will live through centuries 
to come. The name Sooter passed through several 
changes but finally graduated into its present orthogra- 
phy and pronunciation. 

Young John Augustus spent his early boyhood in 
Kandern where he received the rudiments of education. 
But to Switzerland, whose mountains bathe in skies 
of unsurpassed loveliness, our hero was indebted for 
his love of romance and his wealth of imagination. 
After having passed through the common school, he 
was placed in a military college at Berne, where he was 
graduated in the year 1823. About this time he mar- 
ried Miss Anna Dubelt. After having taken his de- 
gree, he entered the French service as an officer of 
the Swiss Guard, and was in the Spanish campaign 
of 1823-4, where he distinguished himself by his 
bravery, his generous, frank and confiding nature, and 
by his faithful and conscientious discharge of duties as 



8 The Life and Times of 

a soldier and responsibilities as an officer. He con- 
tinued in the French service till 1834. 

His parents were classed with families of respecta- 
bility; possessing ample means to introduce them into 
circles of social and intellectual refinement. 

Captain Sutter, as he was then called, possessing 
an enterprising spirit and a keen relish for romance 
and pioneer adventures, conceived the idea of found- 
ing a Swiss colony somewhere in North America. To 
this end he made available his effects, bade adieu 
to friends and fatherland and sailed for New Yoik, 
where he arrived about the middle of July, in the year 
1834. Thence he pushed on to what at that time 
was called ''The far west," his objective point being 
Saint Charles, Missouri, where he proceeded to ex- 
plore the vast region lying west of the Mississippi, 
hoping to acquire possession of a large tract of land 
and pave the way for a settlement of his own coun- 
trymen. This scheme he was soon forced to abandon. 
The vessel containing his means being wrecked in the 
Mississippi River he sustained a total loss of hi:- 
belongings. 

He then made an exploring trip to Santa Fe where 
he ventured in some speculation with trappers, whites 
and Indians, with whom he carried on a profitable fur 
trade. While there he received a glowing description 
of California. Its hills, he was told, were as green 
in January as the vales of Switzerland were in May. 



General John A. Suffer. g 

Leaving Missouri he traveled with the American 
Fur Company under command of Captain Tripp to 
their rendezvous on the Wind River in the Rocky 
Mountains. Thence in company with six men he set 
out on horseback across the mountains and over the 
long stretch of unbroken solitude lying between Tripp's 
rendezvous and the interior of the Oregon territory. 
He visited The Dalles, a trading post established by 
the Hudson Bay Company on the left bank of the 
Columbia River, whence he went to Fort Vancouver. 
It being late in autumn when he arrived at this place 
he was unable to procure an escort to California. He 
was told that Indians were numerous and hostile, 
that the cold on the mountains would be bitter and 
the storms overpowering. 

He was invited by the commander of the fort to 
remain with him over winter. Declining this offer, he 
embarked on a trading vessel bound for the Sandwich 
Islands, whose king received him very kindly, making 
him a present of eight young husky Kanakas for a body 
guard. After five months of wearisome stay he shipped 
as supercargo without pay on the Clemantine, an 
English brig chartered by Americans and bound for 
Sitka. Here he made the acquaintance of the Governor 
of Alaska by whom he was treated as an honored 
guest. 

The governor entered into a contract with him in 
which he agreed to furnish him with such things as 



lo The Life and Times of 

he would need in his colony. Itemized in this agree- 
ment were good iron, steel and files to be used in his 
shops, beads for the Indians, coarse cannon powder 
and fine rifle powder, etc, etc. Attaching great impor- 
tance to these supplies, Sutter guarded them with pru- 
dent watchfulness. Especially did he look upon his 
ammunition as Abraham Lincoln said Stephen A. 
Douglas looked upon the famous "Dred Scott" deci- 
sion, as his "Thus sayeth the Lord." 

xA^fter a month's delay in discharging the cargo of 
the Clemantine, he sailed down the coast encountering 
heavy gales, when, after having lived many days on 
reduced rations, he sailed into San Francisco bay on 
the 2nd day of July, 1839. ^^"^ officer and fifteen sol- 
diers boarding his brig informed him that Yerba Buena 
was not a port of entry and ordered him to leave it 
without delay. With a good deal of reluctance they 
consented to let Sutter remain in port long enough to 
repair the brig and procure necessary supplies. This 
being accomplished, he sailed down to Monterey 
where he obtained of Alvarado,"^ the provincial gov- 
ernor, a pass with full permission to travel through 
California with his men and a promise that if he 
would return within a year and naturalize to the 
Mexican government, he, Alvarado, would grant him 
ten square leagues of any unoccupied land he might 
choose to locate. 



*Juan Bautista Alvarado was appointed provincial governor of California in 
1838, and subsequently regular governor, by the Republic of Mexico. 



General John A. Sutter. ii 

Returning to Yerba Buena he discharged the Clem- 
antine, chartered of Messrs. Leese, Speare and Hinckly 
a schooner and purchased several launches for the pur- 
pose of exploring the Sacramento and other inland 
rivers. This village contained about forty inhabitants, 
most of whom were employed by the Hudson's Bay 
Company. In 1847, t>y an ordinance of the Alcalde 
the name of this place was changed to San Francisco. 
No man in the place had any knowledge whatever of 
the Sacramento River. Opposed by prevailing fog and 
misled by small inlets and recesses that indent the 
shore Sutter was eight days in finding the mouth of 
the river. On its banks ten miles below where the 
City of Sacramento now stands, 500 painted warriors 
assembled to dispute his passage. A chief and several 
of his tribe understanding Spanish, Sutter informed 
them that his mission was peaceful and that his party 
would endeavor to maintain friendly relations with 
them. To soothe their ruffled passions he gave them 
beads, ribbons and other trinkets and smoked the calu- 
met with them. Two of them who spoke Spanish 
volunteered to pilot him up the Sacramento which 
he explored as far as the mouth of the Rio 
de las Plumas, where he dropped anchor and 
proceeded some distance up that stream in a 
row boat. On returning he found the crew 
in incipient mutiny, protesting against penetrat- 
ing farther into a country where indications created 



12 Tlic Life and Times of 

only dark forebodings. Painted. aborigines were seen 
skulking liere and there along the river banks, now 
sheltered from observation beneath the dense brush 
that fringed the streams, now presenting a bolder and 
more formidable appearance. The most of them were 
armed, some with guns, some with bows and arrows 
and others with tomahawks. They were poorly clad, 
many being entirely naked. Their number, like their 
design, was a puzzle. 

The crew asked Sutter if he were intending to ex- 
plore the stream farther. He said he would give them 
an answer in the morning. He wanted to explore 
the Sacramento farther but being opposed by a mutin 
ous crew he weighed anchor on the following morn- 
ing and dropped dow^n to the mouth of the Rio de los 
Americanos on the left bank of which he discharged 
his goods on the 12th day of August, 1839, settled 
with all who desired to leave him and gave them pas- 
sage on the Isabella to Yerba Buena. Remote from the 
music of enterprises, in a solitude seldom broken ex- 
cept by the notes of the wild-fowl and the guttural 
tones of the Red-man, our adventurer with but fifteen 
men to assist him pitched his tent, mounted his guns, 
established sentinels and laid the foundation of an 
empire which, for the beneficial consequences it en- 
tailed, is peerless in the republic of colonies. 

Sutter now found himself legally established in a 
country unsurpassed in natural resources, extending 



General John A. Sutter. 13 

its boundaries over every variety of soil and climate, 
watered by the tranquil Sacramento and its tributaries 
and everywhere canopied by the softest tints of azure. 
The aborigines at this time and place were numerous, 
hostile and treacherous; to guard against a ''surprise 
party'' of them a .trusty sentinel was kept on duty at 
night. Any neglect of this careful vigilance would 
have imperiled the life of every one in the colony. 
In after years when Sutter's dominion was established 
and the Indian had learned to respect his 
prowess and his generous nature, a friendly chief 
told him, that had it not been for the "big guns" (can- 
non) his tribe would long since have scalped every 
man in the settlement and carried away all of its 
treasures. 

A large mastiff, owned by Sutter, saved his master's 
life on two occasions. On a dark night when balmy 
sleep was holding the great adventurer in its gentle 
embrace, a stalwart Indian, with tomahawk in hand 
softly entered the tent where the hero was sleeping. 
''Brave," having a couch near his master's feet and 
being true to canine instinct, "snuffed the game." See- 
ing his master's situation, he displayed his fidelity by 
springing upon his murderous assailant with courage 
that knew no bounds. The Indian losing his toma- 
hawk in the encounter, the contest became even hand- 
ed. "Brave," whose eyes were aglow with ferocity, 
seizing his antagonist by the throat, soon reduced 



14 The Life end Times of 

him to abject submission. Other similar attacks were 
averted by the faithful dog. 

In October, 1839, Sutter brought to his ranch about 
five hundred head of cattle, fifty horses and a manada 
of twenty-five mares which he had previously pur- 
chased of Senor Martinez. In the autumn of 1840 he 
purchased of Don Antonio Sunol one thousand head 
of cattle, and as many horses of Don Joaquin Gomez 
and others. In the same autumn he built an adobe 
house where the fort now stands, covering it with tules 
(bulrushes), a covering that was found to serve best 
in dry weather. 

In the same year the Kanakas, assisted by the 
friendly Indians in Sutter's employ, built three grass 
houses fashioned after those in the Sandwich Islands. 

The neighboring Indians were inclined to be trouble- 
some a greater portion of the time. In 1840 they be- 
came very annoying, killing cattle and stealing horses. 
Sutter sought to inculcate in them a higher conception 
of right and wrong by an occasional display of whole- 
some discipline, sanctioned by well-timed authority. 
By pursuing this course he soon reduced them to an 
improved system of behavior. 

In the summer of 1840 several hundred painted war- 
riors, armed with guns, bows and spears, collected on 
the banks of the Cosumnes river, twenty miles away, 
for the avowed purpose of reducing the settlement. 
Sutter left a small garrison at home with cannon and 



General John A. Sutter. 15 

small arms loaded, and with eight brave men (brave 
they must have been), two of whom were expert 
vaqueros, went to attack them. The unsuspecting 
warriors imprudently retired the night before the bat- 
tle w^ithout setting sentinels and were surprised at 
daybreak in their camp. Being thrown into disorder 
and confusion they fought at a disadvantage, and after 
a severe engagement, in which they lost heavily, a set- 
tlement was adjusted by virtue of which these warriors 
became his friends and allies, enabling him to conquer 
nearly all of the San Joaquin and Sacram.ento valleys. 
Prominent among the Indians who formed this 
treaty, was a young chief by the name of ''Abraham." 
This illustrious title was conferred upon him by a 
white man of the Hudson's Bay Co. on account of his 
dignified and patriarchal appearance. His hair was 
long and black as a raven's wing and had a slight 
tendency to curl. The whites were addicted to con- 
ferring fanciful names on the Indians. His head dress, 
which was a gorgeous one, was well ornamented with 
the largest quills from swan and eagle. He wore the 
affectionate remembrance of a black satin vest, a gar- 
ment worn about that time in elegant and fashionable 
society. Of this vest Abraham was very proud. It 
was so worn that nothing remained of it but the col- 
lar and armholes. Add to this the frill invented long 
ago by the mother of Abel and you complete his habili- 
ments. 



1 6 The Life and Times of 

The colony obtained its supplies chiefly from San 
Francisco, the trip to that place being made by In- 
dians and Kanakas, and in an open boat. Sometimes a 
strong adverse wind and at other times a dead calm 
prevailed many consecutive days, when they sought to 
make headway by turning to the god of muscle and 
invoking a "white-ash breeze" (the use of oars). In 
his journal Sutter says : "It is a wonder we got no 
swamped a many time, all time with an Indian crew 
and a Kanaka at the helm." 

A self-explaining letter to Alvarado reads as fol- 
lows : "A su excellencia Senior Don Juan Bautista 
Alvarado, Governor de constitutionalde las das Cali- 
fornias, en Monterey — Excellent Sir: Allow me to 
write you in English, because I like not to make mis- 
takes in an expression. I have the honor to send you 
with this an act of a committed crime on this place; 
please give me your Orders" what I have to do with the 
Delinquent which is kept as a Prisoner here. Delin- 
quent Henry Bee was put in Irons, but his friends 
bound themselves for looo Dollars Security, when I 
would take the irons from him, in which their wishes 
I consented. 

"John Wilson, Black Jack, is well known, as at life 
he was a bad character, which may be something 
in Bee's favour. Waiting for your Orders, I shall 
keep the Delinquent in Prison. 

"The Trapping party from the Columbia River will 



General John A. Sutter. 17 

be here in about 8 Days under command of Mr. Ermat- 
ing-er. I am also waiting for one of my friends, a 
German Gentleman, with the same party. I believe 
he travels for his pleasure. 

"A strong body of American farmers are coming 
here, a young Man of the party got lost since 10 Days, 
nearly starved to death and on foot; he don't know 
which Direction the party took. I believed they will 
come about the Direction of the Pueblo. I was also 
informed that another company is coming stronger 
than this under Mr. Fanum (Farnum). 

''Some very curious Rapports come to me, which 
made me first a little afraid but after two hours I get 
over the fit. 

*1 remain, excellent Sir! 

Very Respectfully, 

J. A. Sutter. 
*'Nueva Helvetia, November 4 de 1841. 

''P- S. — in a short time I shall have a secretary 
\\'ho is able to write Spanish." 



General John A. Sutter. 19 



THE FORT. 



In the summer of 1841, Sutter began to build his 
fort. It was an adobe structure, the brick being made 
by Kanakas and Indians; the latter having become 
friendly and serviceable to the colony, some of them 
were kept constantly in Sutter's employ. Sutter him- 
self worked very hard at building the fort, not only 
superintending the entire plant, but directing 
all of the operations, and with his own hands making 
and laying brick. 

This fort, so justly famed as a landmark of pioneer 
adventure, industry and enterprise, was built ostensibly 
for the purpose of protecting the settlement from the 
incursions of wild, warlike and treacherous Indians; 
but to protect the settlement from the violence and 
encroachments of the more jealous, cowardly and not 
less treacherous Spaniards, was an incentive paramount 
to all others. 

Great as the undertaking must have been, in the 
absence of energetic and skilled laborers and mechani- 
cal appliances suited to advance a work of such magni- 
tude, the outer wall was completed in the autumn after 
it was commenced. The fort was sufficiently large to 
accommodate the entire settlement for cooking and 



20 The Life and Times of 

sleeping purposes and the workshops were built and 
the tools and stores kept within its walls. The fort 
was completed in 1844. I^^ 1S46 General Castro offered 
Sutter, in the interests of Mexico, one hundred thou- 
sand dollars for it. It was promptly declined. 
Sutter, naturally enough, reposed greater confidence in 
the virtue of the massive battlements and the in- 
trepid and iron-throated debaters on whose fidelity he 
could safely rely, and which were ready, on a moment's 
warning, to thunder through the embrasure an ava- 
lanche of convincing argument, than he did in the 
good faith and sincerity of those upon whom he had 
been taught by experience to look with distrust, and 
whose real aim was a problem which defied solution. 
In imagination, we can enjoy with the little colony 
the pleasure a feeling of safety was calculated to in- 
spire. It was a luxury that helped to extract the bitter- 
ness from toil and the sting from human existence. 

The following is an extract from the official report 
of Captain Fremont who visited the fort in 1844 
in command of the United States exploring expedi- 
tion : 

''The fort is a quadrangular adobe structure, mount- 
ing twelve pieces of artillery (two of them brass), 
and capable of admitting a garrison of a thousand 
men ; the present garrison consists of forty Indians, in 
uniform — one of whom is always found on duty at 
the gate. 



General John A. Sutter. 21 

''As might naturally be expected, the pieces are 
not in very good order. • "" -; 

"The whites in the employ of Captain Sutter, Ameri- 
cans, French and German, amount, perhaps, to thirty 
men. The inner wall is formed into buildings com- 
prising the common quarters, with blacksmith and 
other work-shops; the dwelling house, with a large 
distillery house and other buildings occupying more 
the center of the area. 

"It is built upon a pond-like stream at times a run- 
ning creek communicating with the Rio de los Ameri- 
canos, which enters the Sacramento about two miles 
below. 

"The latter is here a noble river, about three hundred 
yards broad, deep and tranquil, wuth several fathoms 
of water in the channel and its banks continuously tim- 
bered. There were two vessels belonging to Captain 
Sutter at anchor near the landing — one a large two 
masted lighter, and the other a schooner, which was 
shortly to proceed on a voyage to Fort Vancouver for 
a cargo of goods." 

John Charles Fremont, explorer, was born in Savan- 
nah, Ga., June 21, 181 3. His father, who was a 
Frenchman, taught his native language. John Charles 
became teacher of mathematics on the sloop-of-war 
"Natchez" in 1833, afterwards took his degree in 
Charleston College, was appointed to a professorship 
on the frigate "Independence" of the U. S. Navy, but 



22 



The Life and Times of 



declined, was commissioned by President Van Buren as 
second lieutenant of topographical engineers, married 
Jessie Benton in 1841, and in 1842 was in- 
structed by the war department to take charge 




:fe 



JOHN CHARJ.HS FkKMONT. 

of an expedition for the exploration of the 
Rocky Mountains in search of a south pass. 
Subsecjuently he made two more expeditions 
across the continent. An account of his investigations 
had great influence in promoting Utah and the Pacific 
States, ^'he Mormons learned of him respecting the 



General John A. Sutter. 23 

Great Salt Lake and its environs. He was U. S. Sena- 
tor from California. Being at dinner in Paris when 
news of the Civil War reached him, he immediately 
left the table, saying : ''Friends, excuse me, my country 
calls me home." Gen. Fremont was nominated for 
President of the United States by the first Republican 
national convention and was Governor of Arizona in 
1878-81. 



24 T^hc Life and Times of 



EARLY VISITORS. 



Individual trappers and hunters in the employ oi 
the Hudson's Bay Co. occasionally reached the set- 
tlement and now, the latter part of the year 1841, 
small parties began to cross the Sierras from the 
United States. Many of these emigrants were good 
enterprising men who were recognized by Sutter as 
important acquisitions to his moral, social and intellec- 
tual forces. I will instance John Bidwell, who was 
twenty-two years old, of noble bearing and fine ad- 
dress. He was scholarly, energetic and methodical. 
Being metaphysical, he was mentally well calculated to 
supply the discriminating qualities of mind which ap- 
peared at times to need supporting in Sutter. As 1 
shall have occasion to mention his name many times, I 
will notice, in this place, some of the notoriety he at- 
tained in after years. 

John Bidwell was born in Chautauqua County, New 
York, August 15, 1819; was educated in Kingsville 
Academy, served in the war wath Mexico, rising from 
second lieutenant to major; was a member of the 
California State Constitutional Convention at Monte- 
rey; was one of the committee appointed to convey a 
block of gold-bearing Cjuartz to Washington in 1850, 
and was a delegate to the National Democratic Conven- 



General John A. Sutter. 



25 



tion held in Charleston in i860. He was represei^tative 
in congress in 1865-7; regent of State University, 
1880; trustee of State Normal school at Chico i 




GENEKAL JOHN BIDVVEl.L. 

nominee for Governor 1875-1890; was nominated for 
President in 1892. He died at Chico, April 4, 1900. 
In 1841, Sutter received from Alvarado a grant of 



26 The Life and Times of 

eleven square leagues of land, which he called New 
Helvetia after the ancient name of Switzerland. He 
received also an appointment to the military command 
of the Northern District of California, and was at the 
same time created Alcalde (judge) of the same dis- 
trict. He was visited the same year by Major Ring- 
gold and seven officers and fifty men of Commodore 
Wilkes' exploring squadron, then lying in San Fran- 
cisco bay. Professor J. D. Dana was also a member of 
the visiting party. Sutter, with his accustomed cour- 
tesy, dispatched a servant with saddled horses for the 
officers and a secretary to invite the company to the 
fort. The courtesy of Sutter will be more fully realized 
when it is recollected that bands of Spanish cattle were 
grazing on the commons where they were liable to 
be met at any time by the visitors on their way from 
the embarcadero to the fort. Unprotected footmen 
imperiled their lives by encountering one of these 
bands. On the prairie where shelter from an attack 
was not obtainable, one of these cattle was little less 
formidable than a Bengal tiger. Subsequently Wilkes 
became famous through the Trent affair, which 
resulted in the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell of 
the Confederate States, during the Civil War. 

This expedition was in the service of the United 
States, and its mission here was to acquire a knowl- 
edge of the geography and geology of the Pacific 
Coast. In consequence of the loss of the Peacock, 



General John A. Sntter. 27 

a vessel of the squadron, on the Columbia bar, Prof. J. 
D. Dana and others were compelled to travel overland 
to New Helvetia where they arrived worn, weary and 
in distress. 

In 1812 the government of California, under Spanish 
rule, granted the Russians the privilege of erecting 
buildings and establishing settlements at Bodega and 
Ross, for the purpose of salting beef and caring for 
the hides and tallow and for raising grain and vege- 
tables for other Russian settlements too far north for 
success in such branches of husbandry. Bodega is 
about fifty miles north of San Francisco, and Ross lies 
about twenty-five miles farther up the coast. The 
permission to settle at these places was never reduced 
to the virtue and dignity of a written instrument. The 
settlements, however, were made and flourished. 
Ranchos were improved; corn, turnips, cabbage and 
potatoes were grown in abundance. Wheat and barr 
ley were also raised, orchards were planted and com- 
tortable habitations were erected. 

The sawed lumber used in these settlements came 
from Norway, being shipped around Cape Horn. Not 
a saw-mill was known to exist at that time anywhere 
on the Pacific shore. 

The settlement at Ross grew to a population of three 
hundred souls, embracing Russians, Muscovites, Kodi- 
acs and half-breeds of every tribe, squaws generally 
beings the half-breeds' mothers. 



28 The Life and Times of 

To California and Mexico the growth and prosperity 
of these colonies were fruitful sources of jealousy and 
unrest. Spanish and Mexican authorities were illy 
satisfied with prosperity anywdiere in their dominion 
that did not directly replenish their own coffers. 
Spain strenuously objected to what she saw was m 
menace to her public tranquillity. Her objection was 
set forth in a formal remonstrance, but to no avail. 
The Mexican government also served a written notice 
on the Russians to quit the country, which request wa*^ 
also wholly disregarded. General Vallejo in the mean- 
time advanced upon Fort Ross with an armed force, 
hut, deeming his strength insufficient to reduce the 
place, retired without further demonstrations of hos- 
tility. All efforts to remove the Russians were 
futile. They defied the authorities and continued 
to 'liold the fort," carrying on a profitable trade with 
New York and Boston in hides, beef and tallow until 
1 841, when, having stripped the shore of sea otter 
and other fur-bearing animals, and being annoyed by 
Indians, Californians and Mexicans they concluded 
tc sell out and withdraw from the country. 



General John A. Suffer. 29 



THE RUSSIAN PURCHASE. 



In the autumn of 1841 Alexander Rotchoff, the gov- 
ernor of Bodega and Fort Ross, visited Sutter and 
offered to sell him the possessions under consideration. 
In the purchase of this property, there Vv-ere but two 
competitors: Jacob P. Leese, who offered $25,000 in 
the interest of the Hudson Bay Company, and Captain 
Sutter who' made the purchase for $30,000 and w^as 
dined and wined by the Russian governor 011 the brig 
Helena on the 12th day of December, 1841. The 
purchase price of this property Sutter agreed to pay 
in annual installments. The first and second years 
$5000; the third and fourth years $10,000; the last 
installment, it was agreed, should be paid in cash and 
all others were to be paid in barter, including wheat, 
peas, barley, soap, hides and tallow, all of which were 
to be delivered in good condition at Yerba Buena on 
the first day of September in each year until paid. It 
was agreed on the part of Rotchofif that a vessel should 
be in readiness in San Francisco bay to receive the 
cargo, Sutter agreeing to^ pay custom house charges 
and harbor dues, and in case of delay on his part, 
to pay the expense of the voyage in cash. The con- 
tract, by which the parties to this transaction were 
bound, provided that, in case war prevented the Rus- 



30 The Life and Times of 

sian Company entering San Francisco bay, payment 
should be made later. Sutter pledged New Helvetia 
for the faithful performance of his contract. This 
purchase embraced 2,000 cattle, 1,000 horses, 50 mules, 
250 sheep, a herd of swine, several pieces, of ordnance, 
one four-pound brass field piece and some smaller 
arms, some farming and mechanical implements, a 
schooner of 180 tons burden, a barrel of flints which 
were thrown away by Napoleon Bonaparte on his mem- 
orable retreat from Moscow, and the lumber, windows 
and doors used in the buildings and about the premises. 

On the 28th day of December Captain Sutter dis- 
patched some men with a clerk to receive the property 
included in the purchase and bring the live stock to 
Helvetia. Some of this stock was lost in transit; one 
hundred head of cattle alone were drowned in cross- 
ing the Sacramento river. Fortunately the most of 
the hides were saved. Sutter afterwards quaintly ob- 
served : ''Those hides were our bank notes." 

In the beginning of January, 1842, John Bidwell 
took charge of the late purchase, or that part of it not 
removed to Helvetia, staying at the Russian settlement 
till March 1843. While there he had a man to cook 
for him and other men to look after the stock and 
other properties belonging to Sutter and remaining 
on the land where it was purchased. The lumber, 
windows and doors were taken to the settlement and 
used in finishing up the fort and its buildings. 



General Joint A. Suffer. 31 



THE BRASS CANNON. 

One of the pieces of artillery embraced in the Sutter 
purchase has quite a history which has been carefully 
written up by Judge J. H. McKune, and was published 
in Themis, of October 5, 1889, which, as, it is quite in- 
teresting, I will quote in full : 

''It was cast at a foundry of the Russian govern- 
ment at St. Petersburg in 1804. It is 40 inches long, 
31-2 inch bore; cast with two handles that two men 
can handle or carry it. 

''This gun was presented by the Czar to the Rus- 
sian American Company, and by that company to 
Captain Sutter, in December, 1841. 

''It was one of the first guns mounted in the south- 
east bastion of Sutter's fort, and was used by Captain 
Sutter in firing a salute to the American flag hoisted 
over his fort at sunrise, July 4, 1846. 

"It was taken from the fort, placed in the hands of 
Commodore Stockton, used by him as a field piece by 
his command in his advance from San Pedro to Los 
Angeles ; did good service in the battle of San Pasqual. 
December 8, 1846, and again at Los Angeles, Januar}' 
8 and 9, 1847. 

"The gun was then transferred to Colonel Mason's 
command, First United States Dragoons, and w^as by 



32 The Life and Times of 

him returned to Captain Sutter after the treaty of 
Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Captain Sutter presented it 
to the California Pioneers, at San Francisco, in the 
archives of which society it stills remains. 

''The gun has a chamber running to a point at the 
vent, and takes for a charge, eight ounces of powder.'"' 



CALIFORNIA CATTLE AND HORSES. 



Up to the time the United States acquired California 
from Mexico, cattle of the bovine genus were greatly 
inferior in symmetrical beauty to the Durham and 
Devonshire and many other improved breeds that 
adorn the fertile vales and hillsides of California at 
the present time. The inferiority so significant in 
native California cattle can hardly be attributed to the 
quality of nourishment on which they subsisted. The 
wild burr-clover and the bunch-grass that grow so 
luxuriantly in California, rank with the most nutri- 
tious grasses to be found on the American continent. 
The native cattle were less heavy in the barrel than 
the domesticated cattle of Ohio, Indiana or any of 
the states that had flourished under American indus- 
tries; they were lighter in the hindquarters and hea^^- 
ier in the shoulders in proportion to the entire weight. 
The choicest roast these cattle afforded was less juicy 
and delicious than that of a finer grade of cattle. 



General John A. Suffer. 33' 

Early in the 50's, a distinction was made in beef; 
that from the States was called Eastern beef and sold 
at a higher price than native beef. Enterprise and 
energy soon changed the condition. Finer breeds were 
introduced to develop better proportions and salt w^as 
freely used to hasten a tamer and more domesticated 
appearance. 

These wild cattle were vicious; and they still are 
when met. They recognized the superior prowess of 
the horse, ever extending to him the courtesy of a 
wide latitude. This fact insured a man's safety when 
on horseback. Seldom seeing a man except when a 
broncho was under him, they learned to regard him as 
a part of a horse, a sort of protuberance or hump. 
They learned also to regard the horse with six legs and 
a prodigious hump on his back, as the most formidable 
of equine foes. 

Some of these native horses after havmg been rid- 
den and otherwise handled for years, will, at a mo- 
ment when least expected, and without giving any 
warning, give his rider a free and unique entertain- 
ment such as few men ever witnes'sed anywhere east 
of the Mississippi or is liable to see west of it until he 
sees a broncho. I have one good word to say for the 
wild horse: he is never known to strike witli his fore 
feet the man who keeps beyond his reach. 



B 



34 ^^^ J^^f^ cind Times of 



THE COMING OF FREMONT. 



Captain Fremont, in command of an exploring ex- 
pedition sent out by the United States government, 
reached Sutter's Fort on the 6th day of March, 1843, 
in a distressed condition. Some time in November he 
left Fort Vancouver on liis return trip to the United 
States. In passing over the mountains lying between 
Oregon and Sutter's Fort, he was overtaken and 
nearly overpowered by drifting snows. He and his 
men suffered untold hardships. The headway made 
by the party being so slow, the rations gave out long 
before they reached New Helvetia; the pack animals 
perished and the starving men wandered on with the 
prospect of death confronting them till reason, in some 
instances, wandered from her empire. 

Fremont, being a strong, active and resolute man 
and possessing great powers of endurance, leaving his 
command, pressed on with dispatch to Sutter's Fort 
for relief. On being apprised of the distressed condition 
of the party Sutter packed a mule and sent some trusty 
Indians under orders to hasten to the rescue with the 
supplies. -Fremont, whose gratification must have been 
as great as his surprise at finding Sutter surrounded 
with so many comforts, remained with his generous 
host till his men were recruited and his animals newiv 



General John A. Sutter. 35 

shod. Sutter sold him a number of mules and horses. 
On the 24th of March the expedition took leave of 
the generous Sutter and set out for the United States. 

The coming of Fremont to California when he did 
and as he did, has been a topic of some speculation. 
It is not my province to defend him on these pages; 
nor does he need defence. He was a military officer 
commissioned by the authorities of the United States 
and ordered beyond the Sierra mountains to perform 
certain duties. The orders under which he acted and 
the satisfaction his actions gave the Government, 
form the foundation on which a logical conclusion 
in regard to his mission in California must rest. He 
was the hero of heroes ; loyal and faithful to the coun- 
try he loved so well. That he acted in harmony with 
the prearranged plans of the Administration, is evi- 
denced m the fact that his reports were endorsed by 
the President and his Cabinet. George Bancroft, the 
historian and statesman, manifested much interest in 
the exploring expeditions of Fremont. Especially was 
he pleased with whatever tended to hasten the honor- 
able conquest of California. Being Secretary of War 
he ordered Fremont through Gillespie to keep in posi- 
tion to co-operate w^ith the American fleet and help 
conquer California at the first intimation of war be- 
tween the United States and Mexico. 

Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, desiring to 
talk w^ith Fremont about the West invited him to dine 



36 The Life and Times of 

at his house in Washington. Webster said San Fran- 
cisco bay was worth more to the United States than 
all of Mexico. He said, however, he beheved England 
would oppose Mexico in granting California to the 
United States after the Mexican War. 



THE MILL. 



Within the walls of the fort was a primitive mill 
for grinding barley and wheat. It was rather rudely 
constructed and, but for its being worked by mules 
instead of women, it would have been in line with the 
milling done by our very remote ancestors. 

It was made by placing a large granite rock upon 
the ground, the top of which was dressed to a level 
surface; a similar rock was placed on top of this. 
To the upper stone was attached an arm or sweep by 
which means it was made to spin. Perhaps the word 
spin is not well chosen when applied to revolutions 
but three of which are made per minute. The motion 
being communicated by mules, and no gearing made 
available by the use of cogwheels or belts, a high rate 
of speed could hardly be expected. The mill-stones 
were quarried in the foothills of the Sierra mountains, 
under the direction of an Indian, and dressed and 
kept in repair by the same man who also made all of 
the flour. The mill had no bolt, the flour, middlings 
and bran being separated by means of a sieve. 



General John A. Sutter. 37 

The meal and flour made at this mill, although 
coarse, supplied a necessity and supplied it well, as 
those who have used flour from the "Digger Mill" 
aflirm. No complaint was lodged against the bread, 
unless a lump larger than a bird's egg was encountered. 
There was graham bread galore ! However it is hardly 
probable that the mill-men of Minneapolis will ever 
search for the remains of the ''Digger Mill" wath a 
view to throwing light on the milling possibilities of 
Minnesota. 



THE DISTILLERY AND OTHER ENTERPRISES. 



vSutter also erected a distillery in the fort, for the 
purpose of converting into an exhilarating beverage 
the wild grapes that grew abundantly along the Sacra- 
mento river and its tributaries. He made vinegar alsj 
Irom these grapes. He had a worm for running high 
wines. This enterprise he found it prudent to aban- 
don. It was not very remunerative. Besides he ex- 
perienced much difliculty in keeping the liquor from 
the Indians; or rather in keeping the Indians from the 
liquor. They appeared to be natural stills possessed of 
an automatic worm. They liked usquebaugh as Satrn 
does sin. They declared they drank it first at the mis- 
sion at San Jose, it having been given them by the holy 
friars. Squaws, I believe, are fonder of strong drink 



38 The Life and Times of 

than the warriors are ; but' they exercise better judg- 
ment about using it. The aborigines having an innate 
fondness for intoxicants, their appetite for it is easy to 
excite and hard to resist. 

Other evidences of enterprise began to declare them- 
selves by infusing tone and character into the settle- 
ment. A large tannery was built, where an extensive 
business was carried on with good financial results. In 
due time a ferry was established on the vSacramento 
river, and was attended by Indians, who, Sutter said, 
did good work and made faithful returns of the money 
leceived until they had mingled too long 'with the 
whites. 



EXPLORATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 



Solicitous to extend his knowledge of that part of 
California over which he had legal jurisdiction, Sutter 
dispatched an exploring party under command of 
Rudolph Van Alstine with instructions to report on 
soil, timber, and the general appearance and magni- 
tude of the streams, and also on the frequency of fur- 
bearing animals. 

Van Alstine was a native of Holland and a man 
of excellent judgment, ever cool and resolute in an hour 
of danger. He explored the Eel and Pit rivers. Near 
to Sutter's heart was the ever cherished hope of col- 



General John A. Sutter. 39 

onizing some of his own countrymen on the western 
continent. This determination inspired his exploring 
procHvities. Hunting and trapping parties were also 
organized as auxiliary enterprises. Furs were in good 
demand, carrying a significant cash value but little af- 
fected by the expense of storage or transportation. 
From this branch of industry an income was realized. 
In this employment the 'Tarheads" were at their best ; 
but even in these pursuits they were excelled by those 
whites who possessed a fondness for the business. 

In New Helvetia improvements rapidly advanced. 
The shops began to turn out American plows. Other 
agricultural implements, touched by the hands of 
genius, began to present a modern appearance ; but still 
this branch of husbandry, like most all others in Cali- 
fornia, was greatly behind the times. There being but 
little available rail timber in New Helvetia, and as 
shipping fencing lumber from Norway, by way of Cape 
Horn, was slow, uncertain and expensive, the flelas 
were enclosed with ditches. The ditches were dug 
and plowing, sowing and harrowing were done by In- 
dians. Before American plows were made in the shops 
those used were but a trifle better than the one used 
by the prophet Elisha. They were specmiens of rude 
workmanship, too awkward for description. One might 
fancy they were an insult to the virgin soil. 

The season for seeding, like that for harvesting, ex- 
tended ever a long lapse of time. This condition was 



40' The Life and Times of 

highly favorable tO' pioneer life, especially where the 
actions of men were characterized by habitual inert- 
ness. It afforded a wide latitude for discretion, and 
for convenience as well. Wheat, oats and barley were 
grown successfully, and are yet, with a seed time 
ranging from the middle of August to the first ot 
March. This grain (and the world grows no- better) 
may stand a month or more, after having ripened, and 
deteriorate but little. This distinctive feature attend- 
ing the growth and preserA^ation of cereals in Califor- 
nia is happily adjusted to the wants and conditions of 
man in pioneer life. Beneath a cloudless blue, of more 
than Italian loveliness, the farmer can leisurely plant 
and harvest. 

The sight of a harvest field, on the Helvetia grant, 
with the laborers at work as they were in 1842-3, would 
be a treat to an up-to-date farmer of to-day. True, 
but few decades have rolled away since then, but they 
were decades of progress. Then, too, Captain Sutter 
was himself far behind the times in which he lived. 
In view of his environments what more could have 
been expected? Geographically he was remote from 
his fatherland and from all other civilized nations ex- 
cept Mexico and her province of California; both of 
which were fifty years in the rear of civilization. That 
Sutter was not well advised in the sciences of agricul- 
tural husbandry can be a surprise to no one. The 
fault does not lie at his door. 



General John A. Sutter. 41 



HARVESTING SIXTY YEARS AGO. 



Let us in imagination saunter back to and take a 
look over a field embracing a thousand acres of 
o-olden erain all in readiness to dance to the music of a 
harvester as large as a Kansas cyclone, with four ex- 
pert laborers riding it, cutting, thrashing and sacking 
one hundred acres of grain in a day. We shall see 250 
Indians, some of whom are as wild as fancy, enter the 
grainfield. They are poorly clad, many of them being 
entirely naked and all illy equipped for the task at 
hand. There is brought into requisition a poor imi- 
tation of nearly ever kind of ''armstrong" imple- 
ments that have been used in the harvest field since 
Joseph stored the granaries of Egypt. Let us take 
in the exhibition. Here are scythes; look at them! 
They are heavy enough for the colter of a breaking-up 
plow. There are sickles; the *'big Indian" can barely 
raise one from the ground with one hand. Here we 
come to a group of natives working with butcher- 
knives; over there are several who have each some- 
thing resembling a sickle ; they have been wrought by 
the Indians themselves from iron barrel hoops. Some 
pull the roots out of the ground and others break the 
dry and brittle straw with their hands. 

One old Indian, whom some wit enriched with the 



42 Tlic Life and Times of 

eiiphoni(Dus title "Laban," has been a regular harvest 
hand on the Helvetia grant for years. Look at him; 
in size and strength he reminds one of Big Foot, the 
famous Wyandotte chief of long ago. He is six and 
a half feet tall and quite well proportioned and has 
a grave and impressive aspect. He has procured, by 
hook or crook, (presumably the former) from some 
stranded bark or antiquated ruins, an old scythe of 
Teutonic invention and colossal magnitude. To this 
he has attached a snath that is in close harmony with 
the scythe but of different origin, he having cut it from 
the underwood that clothed the banks of the Sacramen- 
to. When this tall, brawny and grim-looking patriarch 
enters the field with his harvester of Digger and Teu- 
tonic combination he reminds one of "Father Time." 
By far the wildest and most novel scene was thrash- 
ing the grain. A harvest of wheat, sometimes the 
work of two or three weeks, was piled, from four t ; 
six feet high, on a hard smooth piece of ground pro- 
tected by a high, strong fence inclosing a circular area. 
Into this inclosure, three or four hundred bronchos 
(wild horses) were turned to do the thrashing. This 
was a picnic for the Indians who drove them around 
the circle over the grain. When they had succeeded in 
getting them into a lively whirl, they dashed in front of 
them and, yelling as only wild Indians can, caused the 
frightened leaders to snort ''down brakes," a signal 
well understood by the band, when every horse, in an 



General John A. Sutter. 43 

effort to halt, skated along with stiffened legs, turn- 
ing the straw bottom side up. The bronchos were 
then made to circle as before. In this manner 2,000 
bushels of grain were sometimes thrashed in an hour, 
leaving the straw broken almost into chaff. 

Next came the winnowing, which was more tedi- 
ous. A fanning mill was never seen in California till 
after that time. It took a month to winnow an hour's 
thrashing. It could be done only when the wind was 
blowing; and then by tossing shovelfuls of the mix- 
ture in the air, the wind blowing the chaff away, while 
the grain fell more vertically to the ground. Fortu- 
nately, in the locality of New Helvetia, there is a re- 
versible breeze that blows, in the summer, with much 
regularity. 

Captain Sutter also had a very good garden, 
including lettuce, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, peas and 
beans. The squaws irrigated the plants by dipping 
water from the bavou near the fort. 



44 The Life and Times of 



FLOGGING ADAM. 



Sutter was informed, by some of his most reliable 
Indians, that Adam, an Indian of a neighboring tribe, 
had been stealing and driving off some of his horses. 
A squad of mounted men, all well armed, were sent 
after the offender, whom they captured at great risk 
and brought to the fort for trial. Sutter, who was 
ex-officio judge, jury and counsel, presided over the 
deliberations (chiefly his own) with as much dignity 
as the presiding officer displayed at the trial of Warren 
Hastings. The trial of Adam, if trial it were, was 
conducted in Spanish, it being the language commonly 
used in the settlement and throughout California at 
that time, and a competent interpreter was always in 
attendance at court proceedings. George McKinstry, 
who acted as clerk, swore the witnesses and examined 
them. 

The Indian, who conducted his own case, was per- 
mitted to produce and examine witnesses in his own 
defense. But he had no witnesses to examine. The 
evidence against the prisoner was so clear and over- 
whelming that Sutter would have been justified, under 
the criminal code of the province, had he given him a 
death sentence. But he seldom went to the extreme of 
his authority, believing it better to do otherwise. Un- 



General John A. Skitter. 45 

derstanding the presence of fcjrmality to be sustaining 
to benevolence and virtue, he made the trial of Adam 
as formal as the environments would allow. The 
judge, jury and counsel (Sutter) sentenced the out- 
law to thirty lashes of a lariat well laid on. There 
being no appeal from this court he was accordingly 
taken by the San Jose Mission Indians, lashed to a 
cannon and punished, as the sentence directed, by a 
stalwart Indian, who seemed to relish the recreation 
more than he who was receiving the castigation. The 
punished thief was then washed, fed and cared for 
until he was able to steal another horse and then dis- 
missed. 

Before pronouncing sentence on Adam, Sutter made 
a lengthy, informal speech in which he admonished the 
culprit to refrain thereafter from taking property that 
did not belonof to him, with a solemn and unmistakable 
promise that if he were again caught stealing horses 
he would have the benefit of summary justice. This 
well-timed speech was delivered for a twofold purpose : 
It was a fitting lesson to the offending party and to 
the Indian spectators, of whom there were many. 

Some of these Indians, tO' whom probity was a stran- 
ger, had been instructed by the holy fathers, at the 
missions, that it was wrong to steal, and that they 
would offend the Great Spirit if they did so, and ac- 
cordingly be condemned for the offense in the court 
of shades and receive punishment in another world. 



46 The Life and Times of 

The fathers, apprehensive that some of the long stand- 
ing cases might not appear on the calendar for trial 
in the court referred to, delivered the punishment 
themselves, leaving the official sentence to be pro- 
nounced in the hereafter. There can be but little doubt 
that the miscreant, who' knew but little about the 
"shady court," would rather have submitted his case to 
its chances in that "shady" court than to him whose 
displeasure was a certainty and whose lashes were cer- 
tain to be well laid on. 



INDIAN LABOR AND WAGES. 



The wages the Indian received from Sutter were 
nominal, which was, as a rule, all their services were 
worth. In exchange for their labor he gave them bar- 
ter consisting mostly of coarse blanketing for clothes; 
and brown cotton cloth and bandanas. The blanket- 
ing was made at the fort by squaws who learned to 
spin and weave at the Mission San Jose. The brown 
cotton cloth was valued at one dollar a yard and the 
bandanas were sold for twenty-five cents apiece. The 
Indians also purchased a great many beads. 

vSutter circulated among them also a tin currency on 
which was stamped the number of days they had 
worked, it being a sort of receipt or due bill. This coin 
was circular in shape and about as large as a "Bung- 
town copper." 



General John A. Sutter. 47 

Indians in Sutter's employ fed (3n the offal of 
slaughtered animals and other corresponding delica- 
cies. The cereal part of their viands was prepared 
from bran that was separated from the flour made at 
the ''Digger Mill." This bran was eaten, I suppose, 
to avert indigestion and was boiled in large kettles, 
then placed in immense wooden trenchers arrangeci 
within the court. The Indians being seated on the 
ground around them scooped the delicious repast from 
the trenchers with their hands. Unbolted flour, as 
late as 1847, ^^'^^^ before the gold excitement advanced 
the price, was worth $8.00 per hundred pounds and 
wheat was $2.00 per bushel. Mills being scarce, the 
price of flour remained high. 

The Indians about New Helvetia were, as a rule, 
lazy and indolent, as they still are, with some excep- 
tions, wherever met. They have about as much inter- 
est in their employer as a drunken man has in a town 
pump. The reputation of an American Indian is so 
well established, proof of my position were pleonastic. 
He, like everything else, is useful somewhere. He 
Alls a niche in the world and perhaps fills it well. The 
dingy novices will not, can not, fill the place of a well- 
paid and well-fed laborer who has been nurtured in 
fields of industry. And yet the evidences of thrift in 
the colony were traceable to Indian agencies. When 
much labor was to be performed, a force commensurate 
was detailed to perform it. The absence of skill ade- 



48 The Life and Times of 

quate to construct and operate mechanical appliances, 
had to be supplied by an increase of native forces. 

Captain Sutter often had three hundred Indians in 
his employ and sometimes many more. An average 
Green-Mountain boy, with a thin aquiline nose and a 
sharp projecting chin, if well paid, will perform more 
labor in one day than a ''Tarhead" will in five, and 
do it better; especially if the performance require any 
tact. 



THE CASTRO REBELLION. 



In 1842 the Mexican authorities sent California a 
new governor in the person of Manuel Micheltorena, 
with 5,000 troops to subdue and disposses Sutter, who, 
it had been reported in Mexico, defied their authority. 
On learning this, Sutter dispatched a courier with a 
well-timed letter written in French and sparkling with 
courtesy, to meet the governor before he reached the 
Capital City. In this letter he conveyed greeting, 
promised cheerful obedience to the law and entire sub- 
mission to his authority. This brilliant diploiTiacy 
secured the good will of the new governor, with whom 
the Americans also, through Sutter, found favor. 

In August, Micheltorena arrived at San Diego and 
assumed both civil and military command in Califor- 
nia. Strong opposition to this appointee was early 
manifested by the Californians under the leadership 



General John A. Sntter. 49 

of General Jose Castro, and the disturbance growing 
out of the disaffection is, or at least should be, recog- 
nized in this story as the "Castro Rebellion." 

Captain Sutter and Mr. Bidwell visited Micheltorena 
at Monterey, on which occasion the governor asked 
Sutter to aid him in putting down the rebellion, which 
he agreed to do. He made a bargain for his friends, 
however, before he set out on the campaign. He asked 
that every petition for land, on which he (Sutter), 
as justice, had favorably reported, should be no less 
binding than a formal grant. With this request the 
governor readily complied. 

This rebellion was so far successful as to oust 
Micheltorena, and establish Pio Pico in his place, and 
Castro was appointed general. The deposed ruler was 
the best governor California ever had up to that time. 
Sutter has been unjustly censured for the action he 
took in support of him. Those who maligned him must 
have been prompted by the absence of magnanimity 
or they lacked a knowledge of his environments. 

He was a Mexican citizen, having been naturalized 
by that government. He was also a civil and military 
officer. Had he joined the enemy he would have been 
treated as a rebel and his property would have been 
confiscable if the rebellion had been a failure. 

Assured that the reader will enjoy General Sutter's 
own account of this affair, I will quote a few para- 
graphs from his journals. He says : 



50 The Life and Times of 

''In the fall of 1844 I went to Monterey with Major 
Bidwell and a few armed men ( canallada & servants ) , 
as it was customary to travel at these times, to pay 
a visit to Gen'l Micheltorena. I had been received with 
the greatest civil and military honors. One day he 
gave a great Dinner. After Dinner all the Troupes 
were parading, and in the evening a baloon was sent 
to the higher regions, etc., etc. 

"x\t the time it looked gloomy. The people of the 
Country was arming and preparing to make a Revolu- 
tion, and I got soma sure and certain information of 
the British consul and other gentlemen of my acquaint- 
ance, which I visited on my Monterey trip. They did 
not know that the General and myself were friends, 
and told and discovered me the whole plan, that in 
a short time the people of the Country will be ready 
to blockade the General and his troupes in Monterey, 
and then take him prisoner and send him and his sol- 
diers back to Mexico, and make a Gov'r. of their own 
people, etc. 

'T was well aware what we could expect, should 
they succeed to do this, they would drive us foreigners 
all very soon out of the Country, how they have done 
it once, in the winter 1839. Capt. Vioget has already 
been engaged by Castro & Alvarado to be ready witli 
his vessel to take the General and his soldiers to 
Mexico. 

*'I had a confidential Conversation with Gen'l Mich- 



General John A. Sntter. 51 

eltorena, who received me with great honors and Dis- 
tinction in Monterey, after having him informed of all 
what is g-oing: on in the Countrv, he took his measures 
in a Counsel of war in which I had been present. I 
received my Orders to raise such a large auxiliary as 
I possibly could and to be ready at his Order. At the 
same time I received some cartridges and some small 
arms, which I had shipped on board the x\lert, and 
took a passage myself for San Francisco (or then 
Yerba Buena). If I had travelled by land, Castro 
would have taken me prisoner in San Juan, where he 
Vv'as being in Ambush for me. In Yerba Buena I re- 
mained only a few hours, as my Schooner was ready 
to receive me on board, having waited Ya. Ba. I vis- 
ited the Officers of the Custom house and Castro's 
officers, which immediately after I left received an 
Order to arrest me, but I was under fair Way to 
Sacramento. 

''After my Arrival at the fort, I began to organize 
a force for the regular General, Drill of the Indian 
Infanterie took place. 

''The mounted Rifle company, about one hundred 
Men of all Nations, was raised, of which Capt. Gartt 
w^as the commander. As all was under fair way and 
well organized and joint with a Detachment of Califor- 
nia Cavalry (wdiich deserted from Vallejo), with 
music and flying Colors, on the nth January, 1845, to 
join the General and comply with his Orders. Major 



52 The Life and Times of 

Reading was left with a small garrison of French- 
men, Canadians and Indians as commander of the 
upper country. 

''Castro had his headquarters in the Mission of 
San Jose; he did not expect us so soon, as he was just 
commencing to fortify himself, he ran away with his 
garrison: was collecting a stronger force, and wanted 
to March, but as he saw that I was on a good que vive 
for him, he left for Monterey to unite with the forces 
that was blockading the General and his troops in Mon- 
terey, and advanced or runed to the lower Country 
to call or force the people there to take arms against 
the government. On the Salinas, near Monterey, the 
General was encamped, and with our united force, 
about 600 Men (he left a garrison in Monterey), we 
pursued the enemy, and had to pursue him down to 
Los Angeles, the first encounter we had with the enemy 
was at Buena Ventura, where we attacked him and 
drove them out of their comfortable quarters. While 
at and near Santa Barbara, a great many of soldiers of 
my division deserted; over 50 men of the Mounted 
Rifles, the detachment of California Cavalry deserted 
and joined their Countrymen, the ribells, likewise a 
good number of the Mexican Dragoons. 

"Near San Fernando (Mission) the enemy occupied 
a fine position and appeared in full strength, joined by 
a. company of American Traders coming from Sonora, 
and another company of the same consisting of trad- 



General John A. Sutter. 53 

ers and trappers ; and the whole force of the enemy was 
over 1,000 Men, well provided with everything, and 
our force has been no more as about 350 or 375 men^ 
and during the battle of Cavenga, near San Fernando^ 
the balance of the Mounted Riflemen in the artillery 
deserted, and myself fell in the hands of the enemy, 
and was taken prisoner, and transported to Los An- 
geles. 

''A few days after this the General, surrounded by 
the enemy, so that he could nothing more get to eat 
and capitulated; and after the necessary documents 
were signed by both parties, the General was allowea to 
march, with Music and flying colors, to San Pedro, 
where some vessels were ready to take him and troops 
aboard; and after having delivered their guns, etc., 
proceeded up to Monterey to take the remaining gar- 
rison, the family of the General, and his private prop- 
erty, likewise the family of some of the officers. This 
was the End of the reign of General-Governor Manuel 
Micheltorena. 

''The new government, under Governor Pio Pico 
and General Castro, etc., had the intention to shoot 
me; -they were of the opinion that I had joined 
General Micheltorena voluntarily, but so soon as I 
could get my baggage and my papers, I could prove 
and show by the orders of my general that I have 
obeyed his orders, and done my duty to the legal gov- 
ernment. And so I was acquitted with all honors, 



54 The Life and Times of 

and confirmed in my former offices as military com- 
mander of the northern frontier, with the ex- 
pressed wish that I might be so faithful to the new 
government as I had to General Micheltorena." 

Pio Pico, who had thus, through the agency of the 
Castro Rebellion in 1845, seized the reins of govern- 
ment and overthrown Mexico's regularly appointed 
governor, Micheltorena, on September 3, of the same 
year, was himself appointed constitutional governor by 
the President ad interim of Mexico. 

The foregoing extract may direct the reader to the 
conclusion that the fame of our hero did not rest ex- 
clusively on his ability as a linguist. It shows the ac- 
tion of a great mind struggling with a language he 
could not master. His associations here aided him 
but little in acquiring a knowledge of good English. 
Having passed the thirtieth milestone on the thorough- 
fare of life when he left Switzerland, his attention had 
ceased to be allured by the charms of foreign lan- 
guages. 



General John A. Suffer. 



THE FORT COMPLETED. 



yD 



Captain Sutter finished his fort in 1844, (Uu-in.i< 
which year emigrants from the United States came 
over the mountains in parties increasing in strength 
and frequency. Some of them came direct to Sutter's 
Fort and some went first to Oregon, thence to Cah 
fornia. Whoever visited Cahfornia from any spot 
on earth, made the fort his objective point, its owner 
being renowned for his hospitahty and pleasing ad- 
dress. 



CARRIAGES. 



At the time of the gold discovery wagons were a 
convenience wholly unknown in California, carts being 
used for freighting and for pleasure riding and were 
made in the following manner : From a large white 
oak log wheels were made by cutting blocks about ten 
inches long and so shaped that the rim was six or 
eight inches thick and so tapering as to have the wheel 
at the center (the hub) ten inches or a foot. A hole 
four or five inches in diameter was bored and 
gouged to receive the axle to which the deltoid end of 
a huge pole was attached. The bottom of the box was 
made of raw bullock hides. These carts were verv 



50 The Life and Times of 

useful and by being kept under shelter lasted very 
well. The granite mill-stones in Sutter's mill were 
hauled on one of them from the Sierra mountains. 
-Strong soapsuds were used for lubricating. The groan- 
ing of one of those carts, when the spindles were dry, 
could be heard a great distance. This being about the 
time the Millerites were at the zenith of their glory, 
the unique music of those carts might have been mis- 
taken for the final trump. 

The first wagon ever seen in California was pre- 
sented by a Boston merchant to Alvarado, the provin- 
cial governor. It was built for a pleasure carriage and 
after the most approved model of the times. No har- 
ness was sent with it. The presentee and his asso- 
ciates, never having seen a span of horses hitched to 
a carriage, were thrown upon their inventive genius. 
The governor, being possessed of the carriage, was in- 
clined to utilize it. Two mounted vaqueros, one on 
each side of the pole, each with a lariat, one end of 
which was made fast to the pommel of the saddle and 
the other end secured to the pole, sought through their 
spirited steeds, to communicate the desired motion to 
the carriage, but with no means of checking the 
speed to which it might attain, the braking being left 
to the genius of fate, the resistance of air and the power 
of gravitation. 

During this memorable drive, perhaps I should say 
ramble, up hill and down, here and there, dashing 



General John A. Sutter. S7 

and fetching up like a patent snaffle, the carriage, as if 
to explore as much of the country as possible, inspected 
every rut and every other obstruction along the 
thoroughfare, even veering five or six feet, at times, to 
procure a set-to with a feldspar or granite boulder that 
reared its aged head by the wayside. Sometimes the 
governor was on his seat and sometimes on his head. 
His personal agility would have dissipated the osten- 
tatious show of a professional acrobat. The dash- 
board, which was of wood and of liberal proportions, 
looked like a Norman guideboard of centuries ago, 
standing by a frontier highway and directing crusad- 
ers to the ''Holy Land." The spirited equines, mistak- 
ing its use and supposing it to be a cavalry target, 
entertained themselves, if not the governor, by taking 
random shots at it with their heels. 

The carriage, having been made in New England 
where Holmes made, the famous ''One Hoss Shay," 
endured the ramble remarkably well. Out of respect 
for the giver, the governor ordered it placed under 
cover, where its remains may be seen to this day. 



58 The Life and Times of 



ECHOES OF CIVILIZATION. 



Unwieldy as those pioneer utilities were, New Hel- 
vetia awoke to the echoes of civilization and enterprise 
blossomed like the rose. 

In monarch pride Chanticleer piped his five-noted 
clarion as he led his speckled harem from the tule- 
covered shed ; the mellow chimes of the bell floated on 
the vaporless air of morning; the Indian plow-boy 
divided his anathemas between the sullen bovine thai 
lugged but indifferently at the distant relative of a 
plow, and the handles that beat a tattoo on his sensi- 
tive ribs. The Indian, in his primeval state, could 
harbor malediction all right, but his language was 
barren of profanity until elegant expressions were 
grafted into it by Christianized races. 



EXECUTION OF RAPHERO. 



In the summer of 1845 ^ courier brought word to 
Sutter that Castro and some jealous Spaniards at San 
Jose had incited the Indians to attack the settlement 
at New Helvetia, burn the grain which was then ready 
for the harvester, and, if possible, take the life of 
Sutter. Some of the more selfish and nai row-minded 



General John A. Sutter. 



59 



Californians of whom Castro was a reputed meml)er, 
had looked upon him (Sutter) as a foreign invader 




iWWm 




<:Sk^- 



RAPHERO. 



whose growing strength might some day enable him to 
defy their authority. 



6o The Life and Times of 

Evidences of dissatisfaction had appeared on several 
occasions and the prevaiHng discontent had finall;^ 
ripened into hostility. Raphero, a well-known Mokel- 
timne chief, was in command of the mercenary In- 
dians who were ordered to destroy life and property 
and who were marching three hundred strong upon the 
settlement. The celebrated chief in command was an 
anomaly. Few men as brave as he, are so treacherous 
and unworthy of confidence. Usually men of great 
courage have a warm, tender and kind place in their 
hearts. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon and our own 
General Thomas were, at times, as tender as a flower. 
In bravery this chief ranked with King Philip and Te- 
cumseh. But they displayed an associated beauty of 
oratory, bravery and statesmanship that command the 
admiration of the world, while his only virtue was 
physical courage. 

Sutter had given Raphero, on a former occasion, a 
token of friendship and good will by presenting him 
with a fine horse and saddle. But the vSpaniards in 
the interest O'f Castro, for ready pay or rich promises, 
undoubtedly the latter, these being their principal stock 
in trade, induced him to undertake a task they had 
not the courage to perform. 

Knowing the energy and cunning of the enemy, Sut- 
ter resolved upon prompt action. A few brave men, 
whites and Indians under command of Kit Carson, 
the banks of Mokelumne river. After a spirited en- 



General John A. Sutter. 6i 

camped in a stronghold in the thick brush that skirted 
the bank of Mokelumne river. After a spirited en- 
gagement in which the enemy lost severely, the whites, 
having exhausted their ammunition and being unable 
to dislodge the enemy, withdrew from the field, leav- 
ing them free to skulk amid the ragged chaparral. 
Sutter said his men left the field very leisurely that the 
Indians might think his retreat was not a necessity. 

There was a Son of Erin in Carson's command and 
a fine, jolly fellow he was, too. His hat was quite 
high in the crown, through which a ball passed just 
above his head while in the engagement. After hav- 
ing returned to the Fort he related the circumstances, 
declaring that, had his hat been low-crowned, the ball 
would have entered his brain. 

The chief who commanded the warriors in the cam- 
paign against New Helvetia, it was alleged a few 
months later, had killed his brother-in-law. On this 
charge he was arrested, brought to the fort, and was 
tried for murder. Sutter had learned, through lessons 
clearly demonstrated, to look upon Raphero with dis- 
trust and to regard him as a dangerous man. Now. 
since his flagrant violation of law, he (Sutter) re- 
solved to give him a fair and impartial trial and to 
punish or acquit him according to the evidence. The 
trial was conducted in Spanish, an interpreter being 
employed when necessary. Sutter had been duly ap- 
pointed Alcalde (justice) in and for the northern dis- 



62 The Life and Times of 

trict of California by the Mexican government, which 
clothed him with authority in his district to arrest 
at will all criminals, to try and to condemn or acquit 
them, and to try and tO' determine all civil cases. 

Raphero, who spoke Spanish with some fluency, con- 
ducted his own case. The situation would have been 
painfully embarrassing to almost any one but him. Far 
from his tribe, he must be tried for homicide before 
a judge whose grain he had sought to destroy and 
against whose life he had conspired. He denied the 
allegation, arguing in support of his innocence that he 
held a lieutenant's commission under the Mexican gov- 
ernment, and that by virtue of his commission he was 
clothed with authority to punish for stealing in his 
district, that the penalty fixed by law for stealing a 
horse was death, and that his brother-in-law was a 
horse thief. This position was well taken and ably 
argued; but unfortunately the chief was unable to 
prove the slain man to have been a horse thief, and he 
was unable also to produce his commission; in fact it 
was doubtful whether he ever possessed one. 

He met his fate with the coolness and bravery that 
characterized his behavior all through life, walking to 
the place of execution with a haughty and dignified 
bearing. When the men who were detailed to perform 
the last act in this unpleasant affair, were ready to pro- 
ceed, a mule appeared in range with their guns, causing 
a momentary delay. Noticing this, but not knowing 



General John A. Sntter. 63 

the cause, the chief turned towards the gunners and 
exclaimed : 

''Why don't you shoot — are you afraid?" 
Thus closed the career of a chief and warrior whose 
influence for evil at home and disturbance abroad, and 
whose insidious artifice, daring and treachery, com- 
bined in making him an object much to be dreaded, and 
whose freedom imperiled the life and property of every 
white settler within the plane of his orbit. His scalp 
w^as nailed over the main gateway of the Fort, where 
his long black hair became the sport of the breezes. 



FREMONT AT HAWK'S PEAK. 



In the fall of 1845, Captain Fremont started on his 
third and last exploring expedition under the authori- 
ty of the United States Government. He went out on 
this expedition by the head waters of the Arkansas 
to the south side of the Great Salt Lake, and thence 
directly across the Central Basin tow^ards California. 

Desiring to court the good-will of the Mexican 
authorities in California, he went to lytonterey, where 
he met Mr. Larkin, the United States Consul, who ac- 
companied him in w^aiting upon Governor Michelto- 
rena and Castro the commanding general. These of- 
ficials being the leading authorities of the country, 
he communicated to them his object in coming into 
California. He assured them that he had not a singfle 



64 The Life and Times of 

soldier of the United States Army in his party and 
that his mission was peaceful. He asked permission 
to winter in the coimtry, recruit his company and con- 
tinue his explorations, all of which being duly granted 
he repaired to San Jose where his party awaited him. 
Here he remained several weeks. 

Soon after the provincial government granted him 
permission to winter in California, Castro received 
orders to drive him out of the country or send him a 
prisoner tO' Mexico. These orders were not made 
known to Fremont until a long time afterwards. He 
had, however, observed certain movements which he 
thought presented an unfriendly aspect. His recep- 
tion at Monterey, but a few weeks before, had been 
so cordial he ventured with reserve to impugn Castro's 
motive. Environments grew daily more inauspicious 
until Fremont was at length met by an officer who 
handed him a letter from Castro and who had a de- 
tachment of eighty dragoons apparently to enforce his 
message. The letter, which bore no explanation, or- 
dered Fremont to^ leave the country without delay. 
Instead of quitting the country as Castro demanded 
he marched to a lofty hill called * Hawk's Peak whence 
he had a commanding view of the surrounding country. 

Larkin informed Fremont by communication that 
preparations were being made to attack him. The 
following is Fremont's reply : 



* Since called Fremont's Peak in honor of the " Pathfinder." 



General John A. Sutter. 65 

''My Dear Sir : I this moment received your letters 
and without waiting to read them acknowledge the 
receipt, which the courier requires immediately. I am 
making myself as strong as possible, in the inten- 
tion that if we are unjustly attacked, we will fight 
to extremity and refuse quarter, trusting to our coun- 
try to avenge our death. No one has reached our 
cam]3. and from the heights we are able to see troops 
(with the glass) mustering at St. John's and preparing 
cannon. I thank you for your kindness and good 
wishes, and would write more at length as to my in- 
tentions did I not fear that my letter would be inter- 
cepted. We have in nowise done wrong to the people 
or the authorities of the country; and, if we are 
hemmed in and assaulted here, wx will die, every man 
of us, under the flas: of our countrv. 

Very truly yours. 

J. C. Fremont. 

'T. S. — I am encamped on the top of the Sierras at 
the head waters of a stream which strikes the road to 
Monterey at the house of Don Joaquin Gomez. 

''Thomas O. Larkin, Esq. Consul for the United 
States at Monterey." 

Fremont threw up a breastwork, raised a flagstaff 
forty feet high on the highest point, and unfurled the 
Stars and Stripes. After several days, Castro ven- 
turing no attack, Fremont withdrew from Hawk's 
Peak, moving leisurely by way of San Joaquin valley 



66 The Life and Times of 

to Sutter's Fort, whence he set out in a few days for 
Oregon. The fires were still burning in his camp 
when a messenger arrived from General Castro to pro- 
pose cessation of hostilities. Castro was afraid Fre- 
mrnt would break some of his crockery. 



BLACK EAGLE, 



About the last of April the United States sloop of 
war brought Lieut. Gillespie of the Marine Corps 
from Mazatlan with dispatches for Capt. Fremont, who 
was on the exploring expedition (just mentioned) in 
California, and who, in consequence of opposition from 
the jealous and narrow-minded Castro, had set out 
from Sutter's Fort on a journey to Oregon before 
Gillespie's arrival. At the fort Gillespie was furnished 
with animals and a guide which were to be returned 
to Sutter when the party arrived at Peter Lassen's 
place. At this place fresh horses and more men were 
hired and the journey resumed in haste, Gillespie hop- 
ing to overtake Fremont before he reached the moun- 
tains. But the ''Pathfinder," who, through intuition 
and experience, had become expert in traveling road- 
less countries, moved so rapidly it was doubtful 
whether he could be overtaken before he penetrated 
far into Oregon. 

Gillespie encountered a party of Indians belonging 
to the Klamath tribe, who were encamped on a river 



General John A. Sutter. 67 

bank and engaged in salmon fishing. These Indians 
were thieving and treacherous and especially hostile 
to the whites, whom they called "Boston men." They 
had strong bows, which in their dextrous hands would 
send one of their large steel-headed arrows more than 
a hundred yards and penetrate three inches into a 
tree. They shot very rapidly and with remarkable 
accuracy. Some of the arrowheads were made of 
obsidian. Those made of steel had been purchased of 
the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. 

On this occasion the Indians showed no signs of 
hostility but behaved quite to the contrary. Black 
Eagle, the chief, with a smile and a ''howdy," assisted 
the party in crossing the stream. Gillespie's horses, 
from having been almost constantly urged by whip 
and spur to a high rate of speed, looked as though 
they were preparing to pay off a mortgage the crows 
held on their carcasses. 

Believing it to be his only chance to succeed, he 
dispatched Sam Neal, an expert mountaineer of great 
hardihood and daring, on one of his fleetest horses, un- 
der orders to overtake Fremont if possible. None but 
a strong and courageous man could have made the ride. 
His passage through a narrow defile in the mountain 
was disputed by a party of Indians. Revere, to whom 
we acknowledge obligations, says Neal took the bridle 
reins in his teeth and fired his rifle and pistols to port 
and starboard amongst them, and received in turn a 



68 The Life and Times of 

volley of arrows which, luckily, did him no harm. 
Escaping his pursuers, he reached Fremont's camp and 
fell from his horse exhausted, having barely strength 
to describe the situation of Gillespie. Fremont ordered 
some good coffee served him while more substantial 
food was in preparation. 

On learning the perilous situation of Gillespie, Fre- 
mont, taking with him Kit Carson, one Canadian, and 
seven Delaware Indians, every one of whom in bravery 
and a knowledge of Indian warfare was the peer of 
any man that ever lived, started on the back trail to the 
relief of Gillespie, whose camp he reached in the early 
twilight. 

After supper the party talked by the campfire till 
a late hour and then imprudently went to sleep with- 
out establishing sentinels. The first sleep of the night, 
which is said tO' be sweetest, was of short duration. 
Carson's cjuick ear caught a thud-like sound which in- 
stantly brought him to his feet, when he saw the camp 
alive with Indians, and the sound that awoke him 
was produced by a tomahawk crashing into the brain 
of a brave, trusty Delaware. 

The Indians immediately raised the war-whoop, 
which was returned by Carson and the remaining 
Delawares. The Klamaths, after being severely 
punished, all sought refuge in flight, except one who 
fought with the spirit of desperation, dodging from 
side to side under cover of night, screaming like a 



General John A. Sutter. 69 

panther tO' deceive his enemy as to the number and 
location of his warriors and at the same time hurHng 
his shafts with the rapidity of thought. One of Fre- 
mont's men went to the Hght of the fire to examine 
the lock of his gun, when Carson coolly remarked to 
Fremont: "See that cussed fool." The desperate 
Indian finally ''bit the dust," and was found to be the 
same chief who assisted Gillespie in crossing the stream 
two days before. 

Two of the Dela wares who mourned the loss of their 
brave comrade, obtained permission of Fremont to 
remain in camp awhile after the party had set out for 
Sutter's Fort. After Fremont was well out of camp, 
he halted that he might be overtaken by the men 
whom he left with Neal the day before, and also by 
the Delawares who remained concealed near the scene 
of the night attack. On hearing a few rifle reports vu 
the direction of the camp, the party started back, only 
to meet the two Delawares on a brisk pace, each with 
the warm scalp of a Klamath w^arrior. 

After punishing the tribe for their behavior by burn- 
ing their village, the party returned to Fort Sutter. 
Black Eagle was tall and well proportioned and ranked 
with the higher type of Digger Indians. He was 
strong and athletic, being a fast runner and able to 
throw down any one of his tribe. He could execute a 
running jump nearly twenty feet. He was also an 
orator. 



JO The Life and Times of 

In relating the circumstances of this night attack 
Fremont said it was the second instance in his official 
career in the West that he had encamped without the 
protection of a sentinel. On that night, he said, ju5t 
before spreading his blanket, he went to a meadow 
near at hand, as was his custom, where his mules were 
grazing, to see their condition and especially to see if 
they were Cjuiet and inclined to rest, or if they showed 
signs of uneasiness, with their attention frequently 
arrested and attracted in any particular direction; for 
mules, he said, are natural and expert detectives. He 
left them quietly feeding and returned to bis camp, and 
all being tired, went to sleep without the protection 
that prudence, at such a time and place, would have 
dictated. 



THE WEB-FOOT STORY. 



In 1846 there resided at the fort a good-natured, 
unsuspecting fellow, who was born in Pike county. 
Missouri, and whose short-handled name was ''Bob." 
He had heard many glowing reports of the Willametf.^ 
valley, in Oregon, and had partially arranged matters 
to go there and make himself a home. Isaac Spiker, 
a jolly man who relished a joke hugely and who had 
lived in Oregon, but was at this time sojourning at 
the fort, said to the Piker : "Bob, you'll not get me 
to go to Oregon and live with them web-feet, no how. 



General John A. Sutter. 71 

I've tried it wonst an' I say, Bob, you'd better take some 
of my advice while its cheap, an' let well enough 
alone." 

"I say, Spiker," said Bob, ''why do they call them 
thar as lives in Oregon, web-feet ?" 

Spiker, when a boy, scalded one of his feet so seri- 
ously that when the sore healed, his toes consolidated. 
Now was presented a rare opportunity. ''Bob," Spiker 
replied, "after a man lives in Oregon awhile his toes 
grow together from foot to nail, and that is why he is 
called a web-foot." 

"Spiker," said Bob, "I don't believe that thar yarn, 
no how;" whereupon Spiker drew off one of his boots 
and exhibited a genuine web-foot, and no mistake 
about it. "Bob," looking greatly surprised, exclaimed, 
"By G — d I'll never go to that thar d — d country." 



EXTRACTS FROM SUTTER'S DIARY. 



Realizing that readers will be glad to meet any- 
thing from Sutter's pen I here insert, by way 
of recapitulation, an extract from his diary : 
"Left the State of Missouri (Where I has 
resided for many years) on the nth a April 
1838, and travelled with the party of Men Un- 
der Captain Tripps, of the Amer. fur Company to ther/ 
Rendezvous in the Rockv Mountains (wind river 



72 The Life and Times of 

valley) from there I travelled with six brave men to 
Oregon as I considered myself not strong enough to 
cross the Sierra Nevada and go direct to California 
(which was my intention from my first start) on hav- 
ing got some information from a Gent'n in New 
Mexico, who has been in California. 

"Under a good Many Dangers and other Troubles I 
have passed the Different forts or trading posts of the 
Hudsons Bay Company and arrived at the Mission at 
the Dalls on Columbia River, From this place T 
crossed right strait through thick & thin and arrived 
to the great astonishment of the inhabitants. I arrived 
in 7 days in the valley of the Willamette, while others 
with good guides arrived only in 17 previous my cross- 
ing. At fort Vancouver I has been very hostibly 
received and invited to pass the Winter with the 
Gentlemen of the Company, but as a Vessel of the 
Compy was ready to Sail for the Sand wich Islands, I 
took a passage in her in hopes to get soon a passage 
from there to California, but 5 long Months I had to 
wait to find an Opportunity to leave but not direct 
to California except far out of my w^ay tO' the Rus- 
sian American Colonies on the North West cost to 
Sitka the Residence of the Gov'r (Lat. 57) I re- 
mained one Month there and delivered the Cargo of 
the Brig Clementine as I had charge of the Vessel, 
and then sailed down the Coast in heavy Gales and 
entered in Distress in the Port of San Francisco, on 



General John A. Sutter. 73 

2d of July 1839. An Officer and 15 soldiers come on 
board and ordered me out saying that Monterey is the 
Port of entry, & at last I could obtain 48 hours to get 
provisions (as we were starving) and some repairings 
done on the Brig. 

''In Monterey I arranged my fairs with the Custum 
House, and presented myself to Govr Alvarado, and 
told him my intention to Settle here in this Country, 
and that I have brought with me 5 White Men and 8 
Kanacas (two of them married) 3 of the White men 
were Mechanics, he was very glad to hear that, and 
particularly when I told him, that I intend to Settle 
in the interior on the banks of the river Sacramento, 
because the Indians there at this time would not allow 
White and particularly of the Spanish to come near 
them, and was very hostile and stole the horses from 
the inhabitants, near San Jose. I got a general pass- 
port for my small colony and permission to select a 
Territory wherever I would find it convenient, and 
to come in one years time again in Monterey to get 
my citizenship and the title of the Land, I have done 
so, and not only this, I received a high civil Office 
( Representante del Governo en las f ronteras del Norte 
y encargado de la justicia). 

''When I left Yerba bunea (now San Francisco) 
after having leaved the Brig and dispached her back 
to the S. I. I bought several small boats (Launches) 
and chartered the Schooner "Isabella" for my Explor- 



74 The Life and Times of 

mg Journey to the inland Rivers and particularly to 
find the Mouth of the River Sacramento, as I could 
find Nobody who could give me information, only 
that they knew that some very large Rivers are in 
the interior. 



''Augt. 17th 1840. The men who crossed with m^e 
the Rocky Mountains with two others had a chance 
to come from Oregon on board an Amer. Vessel which 
landed them at Bodega, at the time occupied by the 
Russians. 

''When they told the Russian Governor that they 
wanted to join me, he reived them very kindly and hos- 
pitably, furnishing them with fine horses, new Sad- 
dles etc at a very low rate and gave them directions 
whereabout they would have to travel without being 
seen by some Spaniards, which would have taken them 
to Sonoma in the prison and after a many difficulties 
they found me at last, I was of course very glad hav- 
ing these men again with me, and employed, and so 
I became strong at once. 

"October i8th 1841, party of comodore Wilks 
Exploring Squadron, arrived from Oregon by land, 
consisting of the scientific corps, a few Naval Officers, 
Marines Soldiers and Mountaineers as guides under 
command of Lieut. Emmons. I received them so well 
as I could, and then the Scientific left bv land for San 



General John A. Sutter. 75 

Jose and the Naval Officers & Marines I dispatched 
them oil board of one of my vessels. 

"March 6th 1842. Capt. Fremont arrived at the fort 
with Kit Carson, told me that he was an Officer of 
the U. S. and left a party behind in Distress and on 
foot. 

"The few surviving Mules was packed only with 
the most necessary, I received him politely and his 
Company likewise as an old acquaintance, the next 
iNlorning I furnished them with fresh horses and a 
Vaquro with a pack Mule loaded with Necessary 
supplies for his men. Capt. Fremont found in my 
Establishment everything wdiat he needed that he could 
travell without Delay, he could have not found it so 
by a Spaniard perhaps by a great many and wnth loos- 
ing a great deal of time. I sold him Mules horses and 
young steers or Beef cattle, all the Mules and horses 
got Shoed, on the 23d March, all was ready and. on 
the 24 he left with his party for the U. States. 

"As an Officer of the Govt, it was my duty to report 
to the Govt that Cap. Fremont arrived. Genl. MicKei- 
torena dispatched Lieut. Col. Telles (afterwards Gov. 
of vSinalon) with Capt. Lieut, and 25 Dragoons, to 
inquire what Captain Fremont's business was her, but 
he was en route as the arrive only on the 27th, from 
this time on Exploring Hunting & Trapping parties 
has been started, at the same time Agriculture & 
Mechanical business was progressing from year to 



76 The Life and Times of 

year, and more Notice has been taken to my establish- 
ment, it became even a fame, and some early Distin- 
guished Travelers like Doctor Sanders Wasnessensky 
& others. Captains of Trading Vessels & Super Car- 
goes & even Calif ornians (after the Indians 
was subdued) came and paid me a visit, and was 
astonished to see what far work of all kinds had been 
done. Small Emigrant parties arrived and brought 
me some very valuable men, with one of those was 
Major Bidwell he was about 4 years in my employ. 
Major Reading and Major Hensley with 11 other 
brave men arrived alone, both of these Gentlemen has 
been 2 years in my employ, with these parties excellent 
mechanics arrived which was all employed by me, 
likewise good farmers immediately Amer. ploughs 
was made in my Shops and all kind of work done 
&c &c. 

"New Helvetia 15th July 1845. 

"J^'imes Alex. Forbes Esq. 

"Dear Sir — I take the liberty to ask you for a fav- 
our, that is if you would be kind enough to have a con- 
versation with the snores Barnal (brothersinlaw of 
Senor Sunol) about my Debt. — Sor Sunol wrote to me 
that he gave over this affaire entirely in their Hands, 
and that they wanted to go below with a Representa- 
tion to the Government and if they would not succeede 
that they would request their brother in Mexico to 



General John A. Sutter. yy 

push on this affaire. I wrote to Sor Sunol that it 
would be a great Deal better to arrange it in another 
way, he wrote me that they would accept Wheat, but 
it is not possible this year that I could let them have 
Wheat, having an engagement wath the Russians and 
the Hudsons Bay Cy. I was surprised that they would 
be very wdlling to take Wheat, formerally nothing as 
Cash or Cattle would satisfy them, and other Articles 
which I have some time offered to take on account 
they would take them. Now if this gentlemen are 
willing to take the next Year nearly the whole amount 
in Wheat, I shall be able to pay them in this Article, 
because I am making great preparations for raising a 
very large and sure Crop, by all means I will have in 
the American fork a Dam, so that I shall be able to 
water my Wheatfields this and employing all the ex- 
perience which I have now with the soil and Climat, a 
very large and good Crop must be raised. I intend to 
sow here 600 fanegas and on feather River 150 or if 
possible 200 fanegas, if I succeed this time then I will 
be out all of my trouble, to conduct this business well, 
occupies me often whole nights, nothing shall this time 
be neglected, that I am once deliberated from all my 
troubles. 

''I know that if you would represent them my situa- 
tion, and use your influence a little by these Gentlemen 
I am convinced that they would be willing to Wait 
till the next year. 



78 The Life and Times of 

''The Wheat will be the next year in greater demand 
than this year, and over this we will have a home 
market, when all these troops from Mexico are here 
and the great number of Emigrants the Russians 
would take every year 4 four hundred townships full 
of Wheat, because their Colonies are increasing; I 
shall not rest until I shall be able tO' furnish them every 
Year about 15 or 20,000 fanegas and this will be sure 
when I can water my fields. — I have news that my 
trapping party is doing well. 

''Perhaps you will have a chance to see these Gen- 
tlemen in Yerba Buena, perhaps a few lines from you 
would answer to advise them to let me one Year more 
without trouble. I beg your pardon that I take so 
much liberty and trouble you with such affaires. For 
this service I shall be very recoinnoissant and remem- 
ber it forever. 

"I have the Honor to be Dear Sir : with entire re- 
spect your most Obedient Servant J. A. Sutter." 



General John A. Sutter. 79 



THE BEAR FLAG REVOLUTION. 



The importance of this revolution cannot be even 
approximately estimated by the amount of sorrow 
inflicted or treasure expended. When we read of 
war, w^e think of blood being shed, of unknown graves 
being filled, and other causes of sorrow. Vultures and 
wolves, we fancy, follow the trails of carnage to prey 
upon the slain. This revolution raises the curtain on 
a more humane scene. In this conflict but little blood 
was shed, but little sorrow or misery inflicted. 

A lurking disposition to revolutionize had pervaded 
the minds of the Americans and of some of the better 
class of Californians for some time. The affairs of 
government hastily closed the period of incubation 
and the progeny declared itself by the presence of 
actual existence. 

The Californians being dissatisfied with the govern- 
n)ent Mexico had been giving them, had several times 
rebelled against the parent country. They had now 
become jealous of the thrifty Russians, which condi- 
tion aggravated their unrest. Mexico was free from 
Spanish rule and California sought to be free from 
Mexican rule. This revolution had been slow in form- 
ing, but recent events greatly accelerated its growth. 



8o The Life and Times of 



THE STATUS OF MEXICO. 



The moral obliquity and the intellectual and physi- 
cal inertness of the Mexican people and the selfishness 
and tyranny of the military and civil officers had 
reduced Mexico to the lowest degradation and infamy. 
The sun never shone on a more beautiful country and 
the god of nature never dispensed favors to a greater 
degree than on this unfortunate country. Notwith- 
standing these natural advantages, Mexico, from cer- 
tain causes, some of which are evident, was at this 
time the meanest and lowest in the category of na- 
tions. Her people, despite the fact that Mexico had 
been free from Spain since 1822, were yet ruled with 
an iron rod, ground beneath an iron heel, and were 
sunk in political imbecility. Her military rulers were 
the most despotic and mercenary that ever exercised 
power by legal authority, or wore insignia. Through 
the natural effects of successive insurrections and revo- 
lutions all confidence in the justice and stability of 
the government was gone. She was without an army, 
without a navy, without revenue and without money. 
There existed a never-ending struggle among design- 
ing politicians to attain to the management of admin- 
istrative business. Since that time Mexico has been 
slowly drifting into a better channel. 



General John A. Sutter. 8i 

Being unable to govern herself, she was illy pre- 
pared to govern her foreign province well and accept- 
ably. Men aspired to the provincial governorship of 
California, and to minor offices, through the pros- 
pect of an opportunity for an unholy coercion and 
for plunder. 

The Californians, whether by birth or adoption, had 
grown tired of the injustice and extravagance of these 
appointees, a fact made evident l3y the unsettled condi- 
tion of the country. This condition had existed more 
than forty years prior to the Bear Flag revolution, 
although the spirit of rebellion was quite general, and 
those who entertained it were ready to leap when a 
safe landing was presented. Some feared that the 
revolution, if inaugurated then, would be indiscreet 
and premature. 

Had the revolutionary party been made up of Lace- 
demonians ('and many of its members were as brave) 
representing Spartan ideas of patriotism, they would 
have had more confidence in their ability to maintain 
their independence. But California was then, as it 
long remained, a general dumping ground for the 
world and contained some specimens of mankind that 
almost any country could well spare. Some had roved 
over the world merely actuated by the romance inci- 
dent to roving; some were sailors who, in arriving 
in port, took an informal conge of their Cap'n; some 
were fugitives for whom the sheriff they left behind 



82 The Life and Times of 

had a neck-tie; some were hunters and trappers who 
looked wild and seedy, but who were actually gentle- 
men born, and some were God's noblemen. First in 
this class was the immortal Sutter. 

The revolutionary party being cosmopolitan with 
no recognized ties oi consanguinity strengthened and 
endeared by the scenes of childhood to bind them to 
the land of their adoption, just how far their valor 
or the spirit of heroism would lead them was easier 
to conjecture than accurately to estimate. The great- 
est number of foreigners were American, with whom 
the native Californians were not much in love. Their 
thrift and enterprise excited the envy of the Mexicans 
and their prowess awoke their jealousy. 



"THE BRONCHO BUSTER." 



The young man of California birth is essentially a 
young Californian. His personality is as distinctive 
of himself as the tide is of the sea. He is almost as 
fond of horseback exploits as woman is of gossip, and 
he classes with the finest equestrians in the world. 
He who prides himself on his reputation as an ex- 
pert rider and who breaks wild horses for other peo- 
ple is called a broncho buster, a title used in western 
colloquy. He is a good-hearted man, and a useful 
man in a neighborhood, being possessed of remark- 



General John A. Sutter. 83 

able pluck, proverbial daring and plenty of vanity. The 
more genuine cussedness the broncho displays, the 
more he pleases the buster. The rider wanted up to 
Sutter's time, as he still wants, a Spanish saddle of 
fifty pounds weight and valued at fifty dollars, United 
States gold coin. He would have a bridle, Spanish 
of course, with a bit of powerful leverage. To the 
center of this bit, a wheel must be so adjusted as to 
twirl at the touch of the animal's tongue. In manipu- 
lating this wheel the animal soon displays as much 
adroitness as a three-card monte man does in playing 
his game on a barrel head. The action of the wheel 
excites in the animal a restless spirit and a frothy 
mouth, both of which are food for the buster's vanity. 
The reins, to meet the demand, must be of black and 
white horse hair braid and chain interstices to suit 
the taste. These reins, to be in harmony with the 
buster's idea of elegance, should cross between the 
bit and the animal's breast. This bridle must cost 
eleven dollars and fifty cents. The buster's pedal 
members to be in keeping with gracefulness must be 
shoved into a pair of boots whose heavily fringed 
tops reach a little above the knees. The heels must 
be garnished with a pair of spurs worth twelve dollars 
in Timbuctoo, Hangtown or Last Chance. 

The broncho is the last thing considered by the bus- 
ter in his equestrian equipage. And yet, he loves him 
as a grandee loves the gout; and he must under no 



84 The Life and Times of 

circumstances cost his rider less than five dollars Mex- 
ican currency. To be a favorite the steed must dis- 
play the f olloAving characteristics : He must be as 
tough as a Waverly beefsteak, as wild as a cyclone 
and as vicious as criminal law. Of these and other 
like qualities he is usually possessed. The more of 
them he displays the nearer he approaches the buster's 
ideal of a horse. 

When, in the act of mounting, the rider's foot 
touches the stirrup the horse is required to leap straight 
up three feet or more, turn half way around in mid 
air and land stiff-legged while his gallant rider is 
vaulting into the saddle. The saddle is secured, about 
midway from withers to crupper, by the affectionate 
ties of a '^mortal cinch." The animal's equator is so 
far contracted as to give his body the appearance of an 
old-fashioned pair of saddle-bags. When the rider 
is seated, the horse pursues a zigzag course, as asses 
do when running for office, and keeping his head 
near the ground bellows like a frenzied steer. 

On state occasions the rider when at his best, is him- 
self uniquely attired. The brim of his sombrero is 
as broad as the views of a freethinker, and like a 
politician, sways to the popular breeze. This sombrero 
is encircled with a cord, somewhat smaller than a 
sea-grass clothesline, a quantity or more of which 
hangs over the brim. These pendants are embellished 
with princely tassels. The collar button of his fanciful 



General John A. Sutter. 85 

shirt is but little above his waistband. His zone, which 
is heavy enough for a tug, is adorned with a brace 
of pistols. He is as good as Grover Cleveland or 
Theodore Roosevelt. He is a man. What more are 
they ? 

Through some mysterious agency I have wandered, 
on a tangent, afar from the whirl of revolution. If 
the reader will pardon this digression we will return 
to the thread of our narrative leading up to the inau- 
guration of the Bear Flag revolution. 



THE JUNTA. 



A short time prior to this inauguration, a junta 
convened at Monterey, by order of Don Pico; os- 
tensibly to adjust some intestine affairs, but in reality 
to consider the condition of the country and to dis- 
cuss measures relating to the union of California with 
some foreign power, under whose auspices her people 
might hope for protection. The Spaniards and native 
Californians had recently been in rebellion against the 
authorities of the Mexican government ; had ousted 
Governor Micheltorena, a Mexican appointee, send- 
ing him and his satraps back to Mexico; and had 
elected Pio Pico, one of their own men, :ivil governor, 
and Jose Castro commander-in-chief. 

Pico harangued the junta at some length, declaring 
that Mexico would not protect them in their rights, 



86 The Life and Times of 

but that every move she made in ruling them was cal- 
culated to discover to men of reflective intelligence 
the deplorable condition to which Mexico and her de- 
pendencies were reduced. 

The parent country, he said, was in a condition les^ 
enviable than that of their own ; and that to be brought 
in touch with that degraded nation would rivet more 
firmly their bonds of serfdom and serve as a barrier 
to any power that might dispose to interfere on their 
behalf. He said they were not in condition to main- 
tain their independence openly against the mother 
country without aid from some foreign power. The 
d — d immigrants, he insisted, were scaling tlie great 
Sierras with their prairie schooners and settling them- 
selves in the fertile regions of the Sacramento, and 
the seers of Holy Writ, were they among them, could 
not divine what they would undertake next; but wdiat- 
ever it might be they would be likely to accomplish 
it. With their most excellent rifles and superior 
marksmanship they could kill an antelope as far as 
they could see him with a field-glass. They were a 
band of Nimrods, brave as lions, industrious as beavers 
and as mobile as wild-cats. It was a question 
whether California was able to repel these self-in- 
vited guests, and drive them from their dominion. 
He favored selling out for English or French gold 
with a stipulation that the officers retain their posi- 



General John A. Sutter. 87 

tions, and that individual rights be respected through- 
out the province. 

I have endeavored to give my readers the substance 
of his address. No stenographer having reported it, 
the exact language cannot be given. 




GENERAI, M. G. VALLEJO. 

General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo by common 
consent or by courtesy attended the junta and par- 
ticipated in its deliberations, but was not a delegate. 
As he was a prominent and most interesting figure in 



88 The Life and Times of 

the history of early CaUfornia, I will favor my readers 
with a brief sketch of his biography. 

He was a scion of Castilian nobility untinged by In- 
dian blood; was born in Monterey, California, July, 
1808, where he received his civil, military and relig- 
ious education. He left Monterey in 1830, removing 
to San Francisco where, as commandant of the pre- 
sidio, collector and alcalde, he remained till 1835; was 
a member of the California party which, with concert- 
ed influence, could checkmate any burdensome tyrannv 
or misrule attempted by the Supreme Government 
of Mexico. His mind was liberal, expansive and high- 
ly progressive, drawing its treasures from the unsur- 
passed beauties of the land he loved and from a well- 
selected library which he obtained in his youth, and 
which was kept securely locked against priest and 
layman and all others except his nephew, Alvarado. 
Fortunately for young Vallejo this library was liberal 
ing its character and progressive in its teachings; too 
much so to suit any sect, creed or denomination whose 
chief aim was to keep as large a number of the human 
family as possible in ignorance. He loved the Yan- 
kees and honored the Stars and Stripes that waved over 
them. For loftiness of thought and nobility of action 
he leads the most illustrious of his countrymen. His 
name is destined to go down to admiring posterity en- 
riched with memories of his noble deeds, gentle man- 
ners and the benedictions of his contemporaries. 



General John A. Sutter. 89 

Business affairs called Vallejo to Washington, 
D. C, in the early part of the Civil War in the United 
States. Here an acquaintance sprang up between him 
and President Lincoln, which ripened into warm and 
pure friendship. The following conversation between 
these two gentlemen I quote from a pleasing article 
written for Harper's New Weekly, by Emily Brown 
Powell. Vallejo suggested to Mr. Lincoln that 
the United States build a railroad to Mexico, 
believing, as he said, it would be a benefit 
to both nations, Mr. Lincoln smilingly asked : 
''What good would it do for our people to 
go down to Mexico, even if the railroad were built? 
They Avould all die of fever, and according to your 
belief, go down yonder,'' with a motion of his hand 
toward the supposed location of the infernal regions. 
"I wouldn't be very sorry about that," remarked Gen- 
eral Vallejo coolly. ''How so?" said Mr. Lincoln. "I 
thought you liked the Yankees." "So I do," was the 
answer. "The Yankees are a wonderful people — won- 
ful ! Wherever they go they make improvements. If 
they were to immigrate in large numbers to hell itself 
they would somehow manage to change the climate." 

In his address to the junta, he delivered himself of 
the patriotic sentiment that had long been near to his 
heart, advocating with great force such measures as 
he believed would, if carried out, conduce to the great- 
est good of his country. 



90 The Life and Times of 

He was a member of the convention that met in '49 
to frame a constitution for CaHfornia. 

His speech, Hke Pico's, not having been accurately 
reported, we cannot quote him verbatim. We know 
his patriotism and his ability as an orator. I can 
undertake no more than to give the substance of his 
address. 

He agreed wath Pico and Castro that they should, 
by all means, maintain forever their independence of 
Mexico. He regretted to be at variance with the dis- 
tinguished gentlemen with whom he had stood shoul- 
der to shoulder on former occasions, batthng for the 
right, — gentlemen whose patriotism commanded 
his profound respect; but he shrank from the idea 
of commending themselves to the mercy of any foreign 
power for protection. The fear that some professed 
to entertain in regard to their ability to maintain their 
position, appeared to him to be without foundation. 
True it was, that the history of past ages furnishes 
instances where weak and unsettled states had sought 
protection from a powerful neighbor, and in nearly 
every case of this kind where the soliciting power 
found protection it fovmd a new master also. 

He said it was unsafe for a weak and embroiled 
power to ally with a powerful one, except by annexa- 
tion, and that would not be alliance. He referred 
them to the Britons and the Saxons, to England and 
Denmark, and to some of the distant states tributarv 



General John A. Sutter. 91 

to imperial Rome. He counseled them to lend a deaf 
ear to the aspersive reports that reached them con- 
cerning the hardy and energetic Americans who are 
scaling the Sierras; that their enterprise was an evi- 
dence that their mettle was good ; and that they would 
be a significant factor in developing the resources of 
the country. He said if they lent the Yankees confi- 
dence in time of trouble, they would make common 
cause with the Californians, and would prove, in the 
end, the nation's pride — her ornament and guard. Their 
prowess was everywhere admitted. *'I most heartily 
recommend annexing California to the United States," 
continued he. ''When we join fortunes with her, we 
shall not become her slaves, but her fellow citizens, 
choosing our own federal and local officers. Our gov- 
ernment will be stable and our laws will be just. We 
shall be prosperous, happy and free. 

''Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the hardy 
pioneers who scale the mountains and settle our un- 
occupied valley lands. They have been encouraged to 
come here, through promises of land. Why 
turn upon these people, who are acting in good faith? 
Better to welcome them as brothers. Strongly im- 
pressed am I, that they will serve us better as allies 
than as foes. If we annex ourselves to the United 
States we are certain of a high and happy destiny. ' 

The junta adjourned without formulating any plan 
of operation. The deliberations of that body did, hov/- 



92 The Life and Times of 

ever, tend to confirm the alienation of California from 
Mexico, as all were agreed on that. 



THE IMMIGRANTS AND MEXICO'S PROMISES. 



The Indians were so troublesome that Mexico had 
offered lands to any foreigner who would settle upon 
them and naturalize to her government. This promise 
she broke by refusing to grant the lands. 

In sentiment, Pico and Castro, as we have seen, 
were hostile tO' the American immigrants and they 
seldom missed an opportunity to so express themselves. 
As the immigrants from the United States were called 
foreigners and outnumbered all other foreigners, upon 
them especially was Castro's displeasure brought to 
bear. Word reached the settlement that an emigrant 
train of several hundred Americans was on its way 
to California and was expected soon to reach Carson 
valley. 

The valorous Castro, whose adroitness was best 
displayed in his efforts to keep out of danger, con- 
ceived a plan to intercept the Americans with an 
armed force ere they crossed the Sierras, plunder the 
train, seize the stock and after destroying what goods 
they could not convey away, send the party back across 
the Plains. 

While this plan, which savored more of barbarism 



General John A. Sutter. 93 

than of courage, was incubating, Castro declared by 
proclamation, formally issued, that all foreigners must 
leave California within forty days or their property 
would be confiscated and themselves put to death. 
That such a proclamation was issued, was verified by 
three representative men on oath before J. H. Russell, 
notary public. As Castro commanded the army in Cal- 
ifornia, this proclamation was not permitted to pass 
unnoticed. 

Preparations were commenced for carrying out the 
plan of plundering the emigrant train. The provincial 
government had a band of two hundred and fifty 
horses grazing near San Rafael. Castro sent 
Francisco de Arc, his lieutenant and secretary, 
with a guard of fourteen privates to bring them to 
Santa Clara, Castro's headquarters. De Arc said Gen- 
eral Castro had sent for the horses for the 
purpose of mounting a battalion of two hundred men 
with which he designed to march against the American 
settlements in the SacramentO' valley. This re- 
port, whether true or not, was in close harmony with 
Castro's proclamation. Another report, nearly as 
alarming, was circulated through the settlement. Cas- 
tro, it was said, wanted the horses to use as cavalry in 
the expedition against the emigrant train from the 
United States. This story, too, was apparently well 
founded. 

De Arc and his men crossed the Sacramento river 



94 T^he Life and Times of 

at Knight's Landing. One of Sutter's Indians, who 
saw them going in that direction, reported ar tlie 
American settlement that he saw two or three hundred 
armed men advancing up the Sacramento valley. Fre- 
mont with his exploring party was encamped near 
Marysville Buttes. This officer having previously had 
some difficulty with Castro, inferred that the 
army the Indian saw was headed by Castro and that 
they were going to attack him. 

Couriers spread the alarm very rapidly in every di- 
rection where an American settler could be reached. 
There was a rush for Fremont's camp for the purpose 
of taking a hand in the fight if the attack were made. 
This alarm, however, was neutralized by the report 
given by Mr. Knight,"^ who met the pioneers at Fre- 
mont's camp. He stated that he saw the party with 
the horses and had a talk with the officer in com- 
mand, who stated that General Castro wanted the 
horses for the purpose of mounting a battalion, etc. 

Twelve men, after some consultation, volunteered 
to pursue Lieutenant de Arc and capture the horses and 
bring them to Helvetia. Ezekiel Merritt, being 
the oldest of the party, was chosen captain. 
Here were twelve civilians in pursuit of fif- 
teen soldiers for the purpose of disarming them 
and taking their horses, which undertaking was 



♦William Knight left Missouri in 1841, received a land grant from Mexico 
established a ferrv at Knight's Landing, and died November, 1S49, in the mines 
in Stanislaus County, Cal. 



General John A. Sutter. 95 

heroically accomplished. A man who was traveling 
with the Lieutenant, for pleasure, claimed six horses 
of the band, which were promptly turned over to him, 
the captain stating that his men were not disposed to 
meddle with private property. Lieut, de Arc and his 
men were each given a horse for his own use and 
the captives were dismissed after being requested to 
tell Castro: 'If he wishes his horses, to come and get 
them." The Americans returned with their prizes to 
the settlement. This move, abstractly considered, was 
boldly conceived and nobly performed, and was, in the 
light of environments, big with significance. 



THE CAPTURE OF SONOMA. 



Revolution being: now fairlv launched, the adventur- 
ers who inaugurated it could not safely remain inert. 
They resolved, as the next step, to capture Sonoma, a 
small fortified town lying on the north side of San 
Francisco bay. This place was occupied by Mexican 
citizens and was the residence of Gen. Vallejo, who was 
commandant-general of the northern district of Cali- 
fornia, of his brother Don Salvador, who was captain 
in the Mexican service, of Col. Victor Pruden, a 
Frenchman, and of Jacob P. Leese, an American who 
had married Gen. Vallejo' s sister Dona Rosalia Val- 
lejo. Self-defense urged the revolutionists to vigor- 



96 The Life and Times of 

ous action. Having augmented their forces to thirty- 
five men, with Merritt still in command, they ad- 
vanced upon Sonoma, where they arrived at daybreak, 
June 14, 1846. Gen. Vallejo and his brother officers, 
being surprised in bed, surrendered the garrison, with- 
out opposition, to a party without a commander. The 
revolutionary party having surrounded this "Ticon- 
deroga," sent some men with an interpreter (Spanish 
being spoken) into the commander's apartments to 
demand the surrender. Vallejo assured them he was 
willing to make common cause with them and head 
the forces at his command against the enemies of the 
country. 

His generosity, for which he was distinguished, be- 
coming excited, he brought forward some choice wines, 
which the party, after a night's ride, sampled with a 
relish to which their judgment yielded. After re- 
maining in their saddle two or more hours guarding 
the premises, during which time they received no tid- 
ings from within, one of the party suggested that they 
delegate some one to enter and explore the situation 
and, in due time, report to them. David Hudson was 
accordingly chosen. 

On going in, he found the party who first entered 
the house, in a drowsy condition. There sat Merritt, 
whose sense of taste was easily tickled by the contact 
of delicious juices, the fragrance of whose exhala- 
tions, harmonized with the bloom of his nasal appcn- 



General John A. Sutter. 97 

dage. Poor man ! Having drowned his last sorrow 
in the flowing bowl, he took passage for slum- 
berland and visions of beauty were coquetting in his 
dreams. The authorized interpreter being "half seas- 
over," was too ''mellow" to perform the duties of his 
office. After waiting an hour for the return of Cap- 
tain Hudson, the party selected another man and sent 
him in, saying to him : ''Now you go in that house, 
and, by God, you come out again !" 

I have said that the party to whom the garrison 
surrendered acted without a commander. Dr. Semple, 
who was duly appointed a member of a com- 
mittee to gather material for a history of the Bear 
Flag revolution, published a series of articles on this 
subject, the first of which appeared in his paper 
two months after the flag was raised and the move- 
ment inaugurated. He was an active participant, and 
was in a position to know as much about the move- 
ment as any one. I think mu:h importance should at- 
tach to his statement. He says: "On the 14th day of 
June, 1846, a party of Americans, without a leader, 
gathered and took possession of the fortified town of 
Sonoma," etc. But Dr. Semple says Merritt was a 
member of the Bear Flag party. 

General Vallejo's wife, an amiable and accom- 
plished lady, who was present when her husband was 
commanded to surrender, said to the Americans, "To 
whom are we to surrender?" In after years she fre- 



98 The Life and Times of 

quently related the circumstances, and amused herself 
with the idea that an armed force undertook so grave 
a task without a leader. 

Merritt, the reputed captain, was an old mountain- 
eer, bear hunter, and trapper. He lived with a squaw, 
and dressed like a Rocky Mountain chief, wearing 
buckskin breeches heavily fringed. In addition to a 
generous use of ardent spirits he was also addicted to 
the use of navy plug tobacco. He did but little spit- 
ting, but what tobacco juice he did not swallow, was 
permitted to flow at random down the unkempt beard 
that grizzled his chin and jowls. In his own estima- 
tion he was as brave as Don Quixote and as bold as 
Capt. Kidd. We will accord to him the credit of hav- 
ing been a skillful bear trapper, and he was also a self- 
reputed Indian exterminator, having slaughtered 
enough of them to densely populate an extensive bury- 
ing-ground. Every time he killed one he cut a notch in 
the handle of his tomahawk. As he could neither read 
nor write, this was his only method of keeping a 
memorandum. His tomahawk handle being notched 
of course from end to end, it is doubtful whether he 
could have counted the notches he had made. 
After the fall of Sonoma, Merritt dropped out of 
sight as captain and John Grisby of Napa took his 
place. 

The Bear party left a small garrison at Sonoma, 
where they found nine pieces oi artillery and 250 



General John A. Sutter. 99 

stand of arms. There was also a large amount of 
private property and considerable money. One man 
cried out: 'Xet us divide the spoils." The indignation 
expressed by an unanimous frown made him shrink 
from the presence of honest men ; after which no man 
ventured to express or even entertain a thought 01 
violating the sanctity of private property. 

After two or three hours' ride, with the prisoners, 
from Sonoma one of the Americans recognized the 
fact that Salvador Vallejo was the Mexican officer 
who treated him brutally when he was in his power. 
The enraged American, with his eyes blazing like a 
panther's, riding up to him, said in a clear, strong 
voice: ''When I was your prisoner you struck me; 
now you are my prisoner, I will not strike you." 

The first night after leaving Sonoma the party hav- 
ing the prisoners in charge encamped and went to 
sleep without being sentineled. This is a strange 
story to tell, seemingly almost incredible. It is, never- 
theless, true. It were vain to search history for its 
parallel. Had the prisoners, who were without physi- 
cal hindrance, been on the alert, with a determined reso- 
lution to escape at the first opportunity to do so, they 
might have seized the arms of their adversaries and 
killed some, if not all of them, and liberated them- 
selves. But they feared the indomitable courage and 
prowess of their captors. 

After Morpheus had allayed their vigor and bathed 

LOfC. 



loo The Life and Times of 

their disturbing ailments with Lethe's soothing balm, 
they were approached by a band of desperadoes, under 
the leadership of Juan de Padilla, a noted outlaw, who 
had adroitly escaped the hangman's knot for a term of 
years. This desperado cautiously crept to Gen. Val- 
lejo, into whose ear he breathed the wormwood of 
his dastardly soul, in the following strain : ''Awake ! 
I have an armed force at my command who can fall 
upon these Americans and dispatch them all before 
they can arm. They are hard by awaiting my signal 
to advance. General, what is your pleasure?" 

Fortunately for the Americans, Vallejo thanked 
Padilla. The latter was ordered to quit the place and 
to banish from his mind forever so foul a plot, which, 
if carried into execution, would imperil the life or hap- 
piness of their families and strengthen the cause of 
the foreigners. He told the outlaw he should go with 
his captors, and he hoped for good treatment. "The 
matter," he said, ''would soon be adjusted. Valor and 
magnanimity go hand in hand. No people so brave 
as these can fail to be generous and noble." At the time 
Gen. Vallejo was captured he possessed an independ- 
ent fortune, his lands embracing many square leagues, 
his herds grazing far and wide and his coffers being 
plethoric of treasures. All honestly acquired. 

The prisoners were transported under an escort to 
Capt. Fremont's headquarters which were still near the 
Buttes, where they remained until the 19th ot June, 



General John A. Sutter. loi 

when they were taken to the Fort, Sutter having sur- 
rendered to the United States on the i8th. Here they 
remained sixty days strictly guarded by several Amer- 
icans who were detailed for that purpose, and one, Mr. 
Kern, a private and an artist in Fremont's command, 
was made captain of the guard. They were finally 
released on parole. 

Solicitous to learn the political bias of their illustri- 
ous captive, a young American of fair address, speak- 
ing Spanish with some fluency, rode up to the Vallejo 
family residence in Sonoma and deporting himself in 
the manner of an accomplished military officer pre- 
sented to Mrs. Vallejo an English and an American 
flag, saying in Spanish, 'AVhich of these do you pre- 
fer?" The lady hesitating a moment elapsed the 
American flag to her bossom, kissed its folds and re- 
plied, "This is the flag my husband washes to see wave 
over his l>eloved country." The officer, lifting his hat, 
smiled and took leave of the lady and tliose present. 

Incensed by threats of .barbarism issued by Castro, 
the foreigners, who had hitherto been neutral or con- 
servative, took on bolder attitudes and resolved to 
stand by the Americans, and on the 19th of June the 
garrison of Sonoma was reinforced. 



102 The Life and Times of 

IDE'S PROCLAMATION. 



The day after the fall of Sonoma, Wm. B. Ide was 
elected, by the Bear party, governor and commander- 
in-chief of the newly created republic and John H. 
Nash was elected chief justice. Ide issued a procla- 
mation in which he set forth the grievances of the 
patriots and arranged articles of agreement and treaty 
stipulations. He promised protection to women and 
children and to all who w^ould not take arms against 
the revolutionists, who, it was proclaimed, would 
pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor 
in support of a republican government. 

''A Proclamation to all persons and citizens of the 
District of Sonoma requesting them to remain at peace 
and follow their rightful occupation without fear of 
molestation. 

''The commander-in-chief of the troops assembled 
at the fortress of Sonoma gives his inviolable pledge 
to all persons in California not found under arms that 
they shall not be disturbed in their persons, their prop- 
erty or social relations, one with another, by men un- 
der his command. 

''He also solemnly declares his object to be, first, 
to defend himself and companions in arms, who were 
invited to this country by a promise of lands on which 
to settle themselves and families ; who were also prom- 



General John A. Sttttcr. 103 

ised a republican government, but when having ar- 
rived in CaHfornia they were denied the privilege of 
buying or renting lands of their friends; who, in- 
stead of being allowed to participate in or benig pro- 
tected by a republican government, were oppressed by 
a military despotism; who were even threatened, by 
proclamation by the chief officers of the aforesaid 
despotism, with extermination if they should not depart 
out of the country, leaving all their property, arms and 
beasts of burden; and thus deprived of the means of 
flight or defense we were to be driven through deserts 
inhabited by hostile Indians, to certain destruction. 

''To overthrow a government which has seized upon 
the property of the missions for its individual aggran- 
dizement; which has ruined and shamefully oppressed 
the laboring people of California, by their enormous 
exactions o^n goods imported into the country, is the 
determined purpose of the brave men who are as- 
sociated under me. 

"I also solemnly declare my object in the second 
place, to be to invite all peaceful and good citizens of 
California who are friendly to the maintenance of good 
crdei and equal rights, and T do hereby invite them to 
repair to my camp at Sonoma without delay to assist 
us in establishing and perpetuating a republican gov- 
ernment, which shall secure to us all civil and religious 
liberty; which shall encourage virtue and literature, 
commerce and manufactures. 



I04 The Life and Times of 

"I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of 
our relations, the favor of heaven and the bravery 
of those who are bound and associated with me by 
ihe principles of self preservation, by the love of truth 
and the hatred of tyranny, for my hopes of success. 

"I further declare that I believe that a government, 
to be prosperous and happy, must originate with the 
people who are friendly to its existence; that the citi- 
zens are its guardians, the officers its servants, its 
glory, its reward. 

William B. Ide. 
"Headquarters, Sonoma, June i8, 1846." 

This address, being heralded broadcast, was far 
reaching and salutary. When it reached Castro's 
camp, more than one third of his men deserted. 

Meanwhile Castro sent out a proclamation calling on 
all good Calif ornians to unite and in one bold effcrt 
fall on and kill the bears of Sonoma, and then return 
and kill the whelps afterwards. This proclamation, 
like his former utterances, served to weaken his army 
and strengthen the cause of the foreigners. He was 
greatly wanting in diplomacy and was a poor judge of 
human nature. A few kind words are far reaching 
and splendidly effective when addressed to either man 
or beast. Courtesy is soothing to a gentleman's per- 
turbed spirit. These facts, Gen. Jose Castro seemed 
never to have discovered. He was not a fair represen- 
tation of Spanish nobility. The prompt action of the 



General John A. Sutter. 105 

patriots, eventuating in the capture of Sonoma, de- 
serves the commendation of humane, loyal and brave 
men. Their determination to protect themselves and 
their friends from unprovoked violence, led up to this 
heroic achievement. They had been refused passports 
and threatened with annihilation. These insults the 
Americans were not disposed to endure neither w^ith 
nor without contumely. The Americans had been al- 
lured to California by the promise of land and the 
promise of protection. The land had been withheld, 
and instead of their being protected, the government 
was directing its arms against them. They, as well as 
all other Calif ornians by adoption, had grown tired of 
such injustice. This fact appeared evident from the 
unsettled state of affairs which had existed for more 
than twenty years prior to the Bear Flag war. 



THE BEAR FLAG. 



As all civilized nations are supposed to have a flag 
and a motto, this embryonic republic must assume the 
dignities of sovereignty and add her motto to the ban- 
ners of the world. The idea of having a grizzly bear 
for a motto was suggested by Captain Ford. Most of 
the party being hunters, the idea w^as thought good and 
the bear was adopted. The painting, from an artistic 
view^point, could hardly be pronounced a success, as 
those who saw it, not knowing what it was intended 



io6 The Life and Times of 

tc represent, supposed it to be a wild boar. The Span- 
iards facetiously called it ''Bandera Colchis" (hog 
flag). 

The flag was made out of a white petticoat which 
was purchased for a Mexican dollar of Miss Anna 
Frisbie, who was visiting a friend in the neighbor- 
hood. The bear was painted with a mixture of lamp 
black and oil, which ingredients were procured by 
Granville P. Swift and Peter Storm. The paint was 
mixed and the bear painted by Wni. L. Tod, who was 
a kinsman of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. In front of the 
bear was a single star and below him was written 
''Republic of California." 

The performance of this modern "Giotto-" was im- 
promptu and hurried to meet the demand of a real or 
supposed necessity. The painter knew not how long 
the new banner would wave in heaven. The revolu- 
tion might be a success and bring independence to his 
adopted country, or it might be a failure. He might 
long enjoy the empire his valor helped to create, or 
he might die the next day as a rebel, ignominiously 
and on the scaffold. Time for deliberation was not 
at his command. He could not repair to his easel like 
Raphael or da Vinci and there, with his mind as calm 
as a summer sea, outline with choicest paints and 
brushes, re-outline, sketh and re-sketch, limn and re- 
limn, blend and re-blend for days, weeks and months 
before submitting, for public inspection, the offspring 



General John A. Sutter. 107 

of his genius; and yet, Tod, of Bear Flag fame, will 
outlive Raphael or da Vinci. He wreatlied his own 
name with fadeless laurels. 



THE RESCUE OF TOD. 



Soon after the beginning of the Bear Flag revolu- 
tion, young Tod was taken prisoner by a party of 
Mexicans and carried to a Petaluma ranch. A party 
of twenty men, under command of Lieutenant Ford, 
went to his rescue. The enemy, of whom Major 
Joaquin de la Torre was in command, had a force of 
seventy-five armed and well-mounted men (a Ther- 
mopylaean odds) with which the patriots must con- 
tend. The latter, being discovered by the enemy , 
sought shelter in a dry ravine, dismounted, made ready 
and awaited the attack, as brave and prudent men must 
have done. The Mexicans, who advanced in eood 
shape, were so warmly received that they never made 
a second charge; but, leaving eight men dead on the 
field, sought refuge in flight. Tod was rescued. 



io8 The Life end Times of 



COWEY AND FOWLER. 



At the beginning of the revolution, two young men, 
Thomas Cowey and George Fowler, who lived in the 
neighborhood of Sonoma, started to gO' to Bodega 
after powder for the garrison. They were instructed 
not to follow the main traveled road but to use caution 
and, if possible, avoid being discovered. Failmg to 
heed this advice, they were seen by a small party of 
Calif ornians under command of the outlaw Padilla, 
taken prisoners, kept a day and a half, and then tied to 
a tree and cut to pieces in the most brutal manner. 

A Californian, known as Three-fingered Jack, a 
noted outlaw who was present and afterwards captured, 
gave the following account of the horrible scene : ''The 
party, after keeping the prisoners a day or two, tied 
them to trees, then stoned them. One of them had his 
jaw broken. A riata (rope) was made fast to the 
broken bone, and the jaw dragged out. They were 
then cut up, a small piece at a time and the pieces 
thrown at them or crammed in their throats; and they 
were eventually dispatched by being disemboweled." 

The horrible tragedy of Cowey and Fowler shows 
the first, and the only bloodshed in the Bear Flag 
revolution, if we except the eight Mexicans who fell 
in their effort to prevent the recapture of Tod. 



General John A. Sutter. 109 

The following is a list of the members of the Becsr 
Flag party who are known to have participated in the 
capture of Sonoma: From Sacramento Valley: Eze- 
kiel Merritt, Robert Semple, William Fallon, William 
B. Ide, Henry L. Ford, Granville P. Swift, Samuel 
Neal, William Potter, Samuel Gibson, W. M. Scott, 
James Gibbs, Horace Sanders and Peter Storm. From 
Napa : Samuel Kelsey, Benjamin Kelsey, John Grigsby, 
David Hudson, William Hargrave, Harrison Pierce, 
William Porterfield, Patrick McChristian., Silas Bar- 
rett, C. G. Griffith, William L. Tod, Nathan €. 
Coombs and Lucien Maxwell. From Sonoma : Franklin 
Bidwell, Thomas Cowey, George Fowler, William B. 
Elliott, Benjamin Duell, John Sears and "Old Red." 

William B. Ide was born in the town of Rutland, 
Worcester county, Massachusetts, March 28, 1797, 
came to California when he was about fifty years old 
and took a prominent part in the Bear Flag revolution 
and afterwards became active and useful in the affairs 
of Colusa county. 



no Tlie Life and Times of 



FREMONT IN COMMAND. 



Captain Fremont, on being solicited, took command 
of the revolutionists on the fifth day of July. On tak- 
ing command he exacted a pledge from his men that 
iliey would conduct the revolution honorably and fol- 
low the guidance of equity-inspiring principles; and 
that they would not violate the chastity of women. 

When Fremont accepted the command the Bear 
Flag revolution virtually terminated. That transac- 
tion merged it into the character and dignity of a 
war of conquest, congress having declared war against 
Mexico, May 13, 1846, just thirty-one days before the 
fall of Sonoma. By the 4th of July, the patriots had 
taken Yerba Buena, spiked the cannon there, and held 
all of California north and east of the San Joaquin 
river. California was conquered by American emi- 
grants ; the enterprise was followed up by the American 
government, and Wm. B. Ide was the first governor 
under American rule. 

General Fremont has been censured by some, for 
his actions in the Bear Flag revolution. He has been 
charged by them with creating friction between the 
Americans and Californians. Such a charge is not 
only untrue, but is absolutely without foundation in 
fact. 



General John A. Sutter. 1 1 1 

He could not have done less than he did in the 
Hawk's Peak affair without acting the part of a cow- 
ard and receiving the odium of a coward. During the 
exciting times leading up to the Bear Flag revolution, 
when the life and property of every American settler 
in the Sacramento valley was jeopardized, it was both 
natural and- proper for the Americans to keep in 
touch with Fremont. On his strong arm they felt they 
could rely in case of a brutal attack, an attack that 
had been threatened. x\gain, it was not until Fremont 
received orders from the war department of the United 
States that he went into quarters near Marysville 
Buttes where the Americans frequented his camp. 



ANOTHER EXTRACT FROM SUTTER'S DIARY. 



Sutter having recorded in his diary an account of 
some trouble he had with the Indians, I quote the fol- 
lowing therefrom : 

"Ji-^ne 3d. I left in company of Major Reading, and 
most all of the Men in my employ, for a Campaign 
with the Mukelumnev, which has been eno-ae^d bv 
Castro and his Officers to revolutionize alj the Indians 
against me to kill all the foreigners, burn their houses, 
and Wheatfields etc. These Mukelumney Indians had 
great promises and some of them were finely dressed 
and equipped, and those came apparently on a friendly 
visit to the fort and Vicinity and had long conversation 



112 The Life and Times of 

with the influential Men of the Indians, and one night 
a Number of them entered in my Partriro (a kind of 
closed pasture) and was Ketching horses to drive the 
whole Cavallada away with them, the Sentinel at the 
fort heard the distant Noise of these Horses, and gave 
due notice, & immediately I left with about 6 well 
armed Men and attacked them, but they could make 
there escape in the Woods (where Sacramento City 
stands now) and so I left a guard with the horses. As 
we had to cross the Mukelemny River on rafts, one of 
these rafts capsised with two men, lo rifles and 
6 prs of Pistols, a good supply of amunition and the 
clothing of about 24 men and Major & another Man 
nearly drowned. 

^'Some of the men remained on dry places as they 
had no clothing nor Arms, the remaining Arms and 
a munitions had been divided among the whole, and 
so we marched the whole night on the Calaveras and 
could not find the enemy. In the Morning by Sunrise 
we took a little rest, and soon dispatched a party to dis- 
cover and reconoiter the enemy, a Dog came to our 
Camp which was a well known dog of the Mukelem- 
neys, a sign that they are not very far from us, at the 
same time a courier of the party came on galloping 
telling us that the party fell already in an engagement 
with enemy, immediately we left galloping to join in 
the fight, already some of our men was wounded and 
unable to fight. We continued the fighting until they 



General John A. Sutter. 113 

retired and fled in a large hole like a cellar in the 
bank of the Calaveras, covered with brushes and trees, 
firing and shooting with their bows and arrows, but 
we had them blockaded, and killed them a good many 
of their men, but on account of having no more powder 
and balls, we found it very prudent to leave the scene 
slowly, so that it appeared as we wanted to camp, and 
so we made a forced March and crossed the Mukel- 
emney, and returned from the campaign on the 7th 
June." 

In Sutter's diary of June the 14th 1846 we find the 
following : 

"A dinner given to Gen'l Kearney and staff, Capt. 
Fremont a prisoner of Gen'l Kearney. Walla-Walla 
Indian chiefs and people visited Fremont and wanted 
their pay for services rendered in the Campaign when 
they was with Fremont's battalion, he then ordered 
one of his officers to pay them with Govt's horses 
(horses which had been taken from the people of the 
Country was called Govt, horses and war horses)," 

Sutter says in his diary, in reference to the Sonoma 
prisoners : "I have treated them with kindness and 
so good as I could, which was reported to Fremont, 
and he then told me, that prisoners ought not to be 
treated so, then I told him, if it is not right how I treat 
them, to give them in charge of somebody else." 

On July II, 1846, General Sutter raised the Ameri- 
can flag over his fort. How impressive must have 



114 ^^^^ ^^^ <^^^^ Times of 

been the scene when, on that beautiful morning, the 
aromatic breath of heaven, which ever touches the 
western shore, in this latitude, with characteristic love- 
liness, kissed the glorious flag of our country; when, 
for the first time, the Swiss philanthropist gave the 
starry emblem of freedom tO' the breeze that fanned 
the citadel of New Helvetia. Sutter says in his diary : 
''July nth. Capt. Montgomery did send an Amer. 
flag by Lieut. Revere then in Command of Sonoma 
and some dispatches to Fremont. I received the Or- 
der to raise the flag by Sunrise from Lt. Revere, long 
time before daybreak, I got ready with loading the 
Canons and when it was day the roaring of the Canons 
got the people all stirring. Some of them made long 
faces, as they thought if the Bear flag would remain 
there would be a better chance to rob and plunder. 
Capt. Fremont received Orders to proceed to Monterey 
with his forces, Capt. Montgomery provided for the 
upper Country, established Garrisons in all important 
places, Yerba buena, Sonoma, San Jose and fort Sac- 
ramento. Lieut. Misroon came to organize our Garri- 
son better and more Numbers of white Men and In- 
dians of my former Soldiers, and gave me the Com- 
mand of this Fort. The Indians have not yet received 
their pay yet for their services, only each one a shirt 
and a pre of pants & abt 12 men got Coats. So went 
the War on in California. Capt. Fremont was nearly 
all time engaged in the lower Country and made him- 



General John A. Sutter. 115 

self Governor until Gen'l Kearney arrived when an- 
other Revolution took place. And Fremont for dis- 
obeving orders was made Prisoner by Gen'l Kearney, 
who took him afterward with him to the U States by 
Land across the Mountains. After the War I was anx- 
ious that Business should go like before, and on the 
28th May, 1847, Marshall & Gingery, two Millwrights, 
I employed tO' survey the large Millraise for the flour 
Mill at Brighton. 

''May 13, 1847. ^^r- Marshall commenced the 
great work of the large Millraise, with ploughs and 
scrapers. 

"J^^ly 20th 1847. Got all the necessary timber and 
frame of the millbuilding. 

''Augt. 25th. Capt. Hart of the Mormon Battalion 
arrived with good many of his Men on their Way to 
great Salt Lake, they had orders for Govt. Horses 
which I delivered to them (War Horses) not paid for 
yet. They bought provisions and got Blacksmith work 
done. I employed about Eighty Men of them, some 
as Mechanics, some as laborers, on the Mill and Mill- 
raise at Brighton, some as laborers at the Sawmill at 
Coloma. 

''Aug. 28, 1847. Marshall moved with P. Wisner's 
family and the working hands to Coloma, and began to 
work briskly on the saw mill. 

"Sept. loth. Mr. Samuel Brannan returned from 
the great Salt Lake, and announced a large Emigration 



ii6 Tlie Life and Times of 

by land. On the 19th the Garrison was removed, 
Lyieut't Per Lee took her down to San Francisco. 

''Nov. nth. Getting with a great deal of trouble 
and with breaking wagons the four Runs of Millstones, 
to the Mill Sit (Brighton) from the Mountains. 

''December 22. Received about 2000 fruit trees 
vv^ith great expenses from Fort Ross, Napa Valley and 
other places, which was given in Care of men who 
called themselves Gardeners, and nearly all of the trees 
was neglected by them and died." 

In his effort to adorn New Helvetia with a domes- 
tic and civilized appearance Sutter was obliged to en- 
trust much of his work to inexperienced, incompetent 
and worthless men. Those who have no interest in 
themselves have little in others. 



General John A. Sutter. 117 



CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA. 



SOME, HISTORICAL BEARINGS. 

In 1562-3, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese 
navigator, by order of the King of Spain, explored 
California, discovering the harbor of San Diego and 
some of the islands. England and France, which were 
jealous of the United States, keenly watched the move- 
ments of each other in the Pacific seas. England laid 
an informal claim to California, basing it on the divine 
right of discovery ; Sir Francis Drake, an English free- 
booter and navigator, having visited Drake's Bay in 
1579, not knowing that California had been discov- 
ered before, named it Nova Albion. He explored 
some distance inland, but meeting little inducement to 
go farther or -remain longer, took leave of Upper 
California. 

Robert Gray, a navigator and discoverer born in 
Tiverton, Rhode Island, sailed in the Columbia to 
the Northwest coast and on May 11, 1791, discovered 
the mouth of a great river, to which he gave the name 
"Columbia," after his own vessel. Subsequently, while 
in command of a Boston trading vessel, he discovered 
a river and bay farther up the coast, both of which 
have since received his name. He also touched at 
various places along the coast of California. Pie was 



1 1 8 The Life and Tim es of 

the first man to carry the United States flag- around 
The \vorld. 

The expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793 
across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, which he 
reached in lat. 52'' 20' 48", suggested the possibility 
of linking together the trade of both sides of the con- 
tinent. In lat. 50"^ 30' he had descended for some dis- 
tance a river which flowed toward the south and was 
called by the natives Taconche Tesse, and which he 
erroneously supposed to be the Columbia. It was 
afterwards found to disembogue three degrees north 
of the mouth of the Columbia. 

In 1804, the United States sent an exploring party 
under command of Lewis and Clark on an expedition 
up the Missouri River to its source; thence down the 
Columbia to the sea. 

Another expedition across the continent in the in- 
terest of John Jacob Astor was fitted out in Montreal 
in 1810. This was directed by Mr. Wilson P. Hunt, 
assisted by Mr. Donald McKenzie. They employed 
ten Canadians to man their boat, two of whom were 
experts — one to manage the bow, the other the stern. 
This expedition went by way of Mackinaw and St. 
Louis; thence to Astoria. 

The Franciscan Friars established a chain of mis- 
sions, twenty-one in number, extending from San 
Diego in the south to Sonoma in the north. The first 
was founded at San Diego in 1769, the last at Sonoma 



General John A. Sutter. 119 

in 1823. Large fortunes were amassed at these mis- 
sions, whence an extensive commerce was carried on 
with other countries, the trade being chiefly in hides, 
tallows, salt beef, wheat and barley, etc. Indians, who 
were little else than slaves, were the wealth producers. 
After Mexico established her independence of Spain 
the importance of the missions rapidly declined. So 
far as ownership based exclusively on the right of 
discovery confirms — if there be such a right — Spain 
had better right to California than any other nation. 
When Mexico ceased to be a Spanish province she ac- 
quired the control of California. 

As early as 1842 the Americans began to look long- 
ingly on this beautiful land. The idea of acquiring it 
seems to have been first entertained by our states- 
men in the South. Henry Alexander Wise, in a 
speech delivered in the House of Representatives in 
April, 1842, said that he for one would assign Califor- 
nia to a place where all the power of England could 
not reach her. (Wise was Governor of Virginia when 
John Brown of Ossawattomie was executed.) Some 
time in October the same year Commodore Jones 
raised the Stars and Stripes in Monterey. This be- 
havior not being spiced to the taste of Mexico, all 
foreigners, especially citizens of the United States in 
California and other neighboring governmental de- 
partments, were ordered to leave the country. In 
the New Orleans Courier of May, 1845, we find the 



I20 Tlic Life and Times of 

following information in regard to this favored por- 
tion of the globe : It was eagerly sought by our citi- 
zens as it was destined ere long to be annexed to the 
United States. 

On the 17th of June, 1848, Saunders had been 
charged by James Buchanan in the name of the Presi- 
dent confidentially to introduce to the government of 
Spain the matter of buying Cuba, authorizing him to 
offer as high as $100,000,000. The Secretary of State 
assured him that Cuba was ready and willing to 
place itself under the protection of the United States; 
and that the acquisition of Cuba would strengthen the 
Federal Union in a high degree. 



THE OSTEND MANIFESTO. 



From an excellent and most reliable work by J. N. 
Larned the following is taken : ''When the Spanish 
colonies in America became independent, they abol- 
ished slavery. Apprehensive that the republics of Mex- 
ico and Colombia would be anxious to wrest Cuba and 
Porto Rico from Spain, secure their independence, and 
introduce into those islands the idea, if they did not 
establish the fact, of freedom, the slave masters of the 
United States at once sought to guard against what 
they deemed so calamitous an event. But after the an- 
nexation of Texas, there was a change of feeling and 
purpose, and Cuba, from being an object of dread. 



General John A. Sutter. 121 

became an object of vehement desire. The propa- 
gandists, strengthened and emboldened by that signal 
triumph, now turned their eyes toward this beautiful 
isle of the sea, as the theatre of new exploits; and 
they determined to secure 'the Gem of the Antilles' 
for the coronet of their great and growing power. 
During Mr. Polk's administration an attempt was 
made to purchase it, and the sum of $100,000,000 
was offered therefor. But the offer was promptly 
declined. What, however, could not be bought it 
was determined to steal, and filibustering expeditions 
became the order of the day. 

''No sooner was President Taylor inaugurated than 
he found movements on foot in that direction; and 
in August, 1849, ^"^^ issued a proclamation, affirming 
his belief that an armed expedition was being fitted 
out against Cuba or some of the provinces of Mexico, 
and calling upon all good citizens to discountenance 
and prevent any such enterprise. 

'*In 185 1 an expedition, consisting of some 500 men, 
sailed from New Orleans under Lopez, a Cuban adven- 
.turer. But though it effected a landing, it was easily 
defeated, and its leader and a few of his followers 
were executed. Soon afterwards a secret association, 
styling itself the 'Order of the Lone Star,' was formed 
in several of the Southern cities, having a similar 
object in view ; but it attracted little notice and ac- 
complished nothing. ^ ^ ^ 



122 The Life and Times of 

''In August, 1854, President Pierce instructed Mr. 
Marcy, his Secretary of State, to direct Buchanan, 
Mason and Soule, ministers respectively at the courts 
of London, Paris and Madrid, to convene in some 
European city and confer with each other in regard 
to the matter of gaining Cuba to the United States. 
They met accordingly, in October, at Ostend, Belgium. 
The results of their deliberations were published in a 
manifesto, in which the reasons are set forth for the 
acquisition; and the declaration was made that the 
Union could never enjoy repose and security as long as 
Cuba was not embraced within its boundaries. 

''The great source of anxiety, the controlling motive, 
was the apprehension that, unless so annexed, she 
would be Afripanized and become a second San Do- 
mingo and thus seriously endanger the Union. 

"This paper attracted great attention and caused 
much astonishment. It was at first received with 
incredulity, as if there had been some mistake made or 
imposition practiced. But there was neither. It was 
the deliberate utterance of the conference, and it 
received the indorsement of Mr. Pierce and his ad- 
ministration. The Democratic national conventions 
of 1856 and of i860 were quite as explicit as were 
the authors of the Ostend Manifesto in favor of the 
conquest of Cuba." 



General John A. Sutter. 123 



ACQUISITION OF CALIFORNIA BY UNITED STATES 



In 1845 the newspapers began to speak quite 
freely on this subject, all being favorable to the ac- 
quisition of California. On the 15th of December 
General Cass, in the United States Senate, expressed 
a hope that the Administration would bring it to pass. 
Polk instructed Slidell to offer Mexico $25,000,000 
for New Mexico and California and assume the claims 
ag^ainst Mexico. Bancroft, in his instructions June 
24 to Commodore Sloat, who commanded the fleet 
on the Pacific, said : ''The Mexico ports on the Pa- 
cific are said to be open and defenseless. If you as- 
certain with certainty that Mexico has declared war 
agamst the United States, you will at once possess 
yourself of the port of San Francisco and blockade or 
occupy such other ports as your force may permit." 

In 1842 Dr. Marcus Whitman was called to 
visit a patient in Walla-Walla. Wdiile at dinner 2 
courier brought word that a colony of British set- 
tlers from Red River had crossed the mountains and 
were then about three hundred miles up the Colum- 
bia River. 

The announcement was hailed with expressions of 
delight. There were present about twenty-five men. 
A young priest, who was enthusiastic, swinging his 



124 ^^^<^ Life and Times of 

cap in the air, cried, "Hurrah for Oregon. America is 
too late — the country is ours" (i. e. England's). 
Within a few days Whitman was on his way to Wash- 
ington, D. C, encountering many hardships on his 
journey. Attired in the buckskin garb of a fron- 
tiersman, he called on Daniel Webster, then Secretary 
of State, and made his business known. The great 
statesman replied, ''Wagons cannot cross the moun- 
tains. Sir G. Simpson, who' is there, affirms that, and 
so do all of his correspondents in that region. Be- 
sides, I am about trading that worthless territory for 
some valuable concessions in the Newfoundland cod- 
fisheries." Dr. Whitman replied, ''Mr. Webster, we 
want that valuable territory ourselves." He then 
made his business known to President Tyler, who, be- 
coming interested in his earnestness, said, "Since you 
are a missionary I will believe you ; and if you get 
your colony over the mountains the treaty will not be 
ratified." 

In a debate in congress one speaker said, "I would 
not give a pinch of snuff for the whole of Oregon for 
agricultural purposes, and I thank God that he put the 
Rocky Mountains between it and the East." Another 
speaker declared, "All the gold mines of Peru would 
not pay a penny on a pound of the cost it would be to 
build a railroad across the mountains to Oregon." 
Such expressions were current in political circles in 
the United States at that time. 



General John A. Sutter. 125 

After Oregon was secured and found to be in line 
with great possibilities, a deeper and less vague in- 
terest in California prevailed throughout the United 
States. 

Commodore John D. Sloat, in command of the 
United States frigate Savannah, at Mazatlan, had 
been ordered by the Secretary of War to take Califor- 
nia on the first intimation that war existed between 
Mexico and this country. On hearing of the battle 
of Rio Grande, fought on the 8th and 9th of May 
between the United States and Mexico, without wait- 
ing for a formal declaration of war or further orders 
he sailed at once for Monterey, where he arrived on the 
2nd day of July, followed within two weeks by the 
British man-of-war Collingwood, of the British fleet 
on the Pacific Coast, under command of Admiral 
George Seymour. On the 6th of July Sloat dis- 
patched a courier to Montgomery, commander of the 
sloop-of-war Portsmouth, lying at San Francisco, 
bearing him the news of his intention to raise the 
flag in Monterey and requiring him, if his force were 
sufficient, to do the same at San Francisco and else- 
where in the upper portions of the territory. 

On the 7th of July, 1846, Sloat hoisted the 
American flag in Monterey, which act was performed 
by Captain Mervine, commanding two hundred and 
fifty marines and seamen. Cheer upon cheer from the 
troops and foreigners present was given after the rais- 



126 The Life and Times of 

ing of the flag, and a salute of twenty-one guns was 
fired by all the American ships in the harbor. 

Having briefly noticed some of the discoveries of 
the early explorers of the Pacific coast, I now en- 
deavor to give a synopsis of the principal military 
operations which were carried on in the so-called co i- 
quest of California. It is not mine to give minutely the 
details of the skirmishes or to tell precisely where the, 
dragoons were striking their blows, what disposition 
was made of the volunteers, where the marines were 
marshaled and where the battalions. Nor shall I 
undertake to say the regulars were stationed here and 
the volunteers there. Who has not had his pa- 
tience worn threadbare by the narration of such wear- 
isome and unimportant details? Let those be thus 
precise who possess a fondness for that style of narra- 
tion. 



General John A. Sutter. 127 



SAN PEDRO AND LOS ANGELES. 



About the first of August, 1846, Commodore Stock- 
ton sailed in the Congress for San Pedro, where he 
raised the United States flag on the 6th. There being 
no resistance, he marched soon afterwards with his 
command to Los Angeles, just without which he was 
joined by Fremont, when he entered the city and 
raised the American flag on the thirteenth day of 
August. After remaining in the city about two weeks, 
Stockton sailed for San Pedro and Fremont went to 
the North by land, leaving Gillespie with sixty men in 
command of the South with headcjuarters at Los An- 
geles (City of the Angels), the largest city in Cali- 
fornia, then having a population of one thousand seven 
hundred. The enemy realizing that the place was poorly 
garrisc lied collected their strength and forced Gillespie 
to capitulate. 

A few days after Gillespie's capitulation Mervine 
arrived at San Pedro on the frigate Savannah. 
Joining his marines with Gillespie's volunteers, he set 
out for Los x\ngeles about the first of October. Find- 
ing himself encountering overpowering numbers and 
being harassed on all sides by well-mounted cavalry, 
he very prudently withdrew to his ship. Six men were 
killed. 



128 The Life and Times of 

The news of Gillespie's capitulation and Mervine's 
defeat having reached Stockton in the North, he im- 
mediately began to recruit his forces and organize for 
a vigorous campaign in the South. He landed at San 
Pedro with four hundred men, sailing thence to San 
Diego, where he must have arrived some time in 
November. 



THE CAPTURE OF LARKIN. 



Thomas O. Larkin, Esq., a Boston merchant, went 
into business in Monterey, California, in 1832, and in 
1843 ^^'^s appointed United States consul. Here he 
remained till the conquest of California. After war 
with its crimson wings began to hover about Monterey 
he removed his family to San Francisco, where they 
would be less troubled by disturbing influences. 

On receiving information that his family were ill 
and that Montgomery desired his presence in San 
Francisco respecting some stores for the Portsmouth, 
he set out, with one servant, on the 15th of November, 
for that place. The first night he put up at the house 
of Don Joaquin Gomez, sending his servant on an 
errand to San Juan, six miles beyond, to request a 
gentleman who was also going to San Francisco to 
wait for him. About midnight Larkin was aroused 
from his bed, as he says, by the noise made by ten 
Californians (unshaved and unwashed for months) 



General John A. Sutter. 129 

rushing into his room with guns, swords, pistols and 
torches in their hands. The invitation he received to 
accompany them did not sparkle with elegance, as may 
be supposed. While he was dressing they saddled his 
horse and he rode with them to a camp of seventy-five 
men on the banks of the Monterey River, The com- 
mandant took him one side and informed him that his 
people demanded that he write to the American cap- 
tain of volunteers at San Juan, saying that he had 
left Monterey to visit the distressed families along the 
river and requesting that twenty men should meet 
him before daylight, so that he could station them, 
before his return to town, in a manner to protect these 
families. The natives, the commandant said, were 
determined on the act being accomplished. 

Larkin at first endeavored tO' reason with them on 
the infamy and the impossibility of the deed, but to 
no avail. The commandant told Larkin his life de- 
pended on the letter, but that he was willing to pre- 
serve his life; indeed, he said he would be glad to do 
so; he was an old acquaintance, but could not other- 
wise control his people in this affair. I quote from 
Larkin's journal : ''In this manner you may act and 
threaten night by night; my life on such conditions is 
of little value or pleasure to me. I am by incident your 
prisoner — make the most of me — write I will not: 
shoot as you see fit and I am done talking on the sub- 
ject. I left him and walked to the campfire. For 



130 The Life and Times of 

some time there was an excitement kept up around 
mc, when the disturbance subsided.'' The insurgents, 
faihng- by threats to coerce their captive into a strategy 
highly dishonorable to himself and adverse to the 
Americans, abandoned the scheme and experimented 
with new endeavors. 

Their plan was tO' make a night attack on San Juan. 
At one o'clock they began their march with one hun- 
dred and thirty men. Ten miles south of San Juan 
they encountered eight or ten Americans, who retreated 
into an oak thicket near by, where they were surrounded 
by the captors of Larkin, with whom they exchanged 
an occasional shot. Larkin, who was held as a pris- 
oner, was asked to go into the thicket and call his 
countrymen out. He told them to do it themselves; 
when further importuned he said he would call them 
out if they were allowed to retain their arms and 
go to San Juan or Monterey. This request was of 
course denied. A\^hile wording over the matter, fifty 
Americans under Captain. Burroughs came down upon 
them. Forty Californians fled at the first fire. The 
parties remained within a mile of each other till night, 
when the enemy made another attack and was re- 
pulsed. 

The skirmishing continued till very late, when one 
of the W^alla-AA'alla Indians volunteered to go to Mon- 
terey and inform Fremont of what was passing. He 
was pursued en his way by c. party of the enemy, the 



General John A. Sutter. 131 

foremost of which thrust a lance at him. In his effort 
to parry it, it went through his hand. Seizing his 
tomahawk in the other hand he spHt the Mexican's 
liead from his crown to his mouth. The other pur- 
suers having come up, he, with dexterity and cour- 
age that would have honored a vSpartan, dispatched 
twO' more, when the rest fled. He rode as far toward 
Alonterey as the horse could carry him and then left 
horse and saddle and went on foot to Monterey. In 
this affair officers Burroughs, Foster and Eams were 
killed. Larkin was held in captivity about three 
months. 



BATTLE OF SAN GABRIEL. 



December 29th, General Kearney left San Diego 
with five hundred men consisting of dismounted dra- 
goons, fifty volunteers and a number of Walla-Walla 
Indians, the balance of his command being marines and 
sailors, with a battery of artillery. He took up his 
line of march in the direction of Los Angeles. On the 
eighth of January he located the enemy, six hundred 
mounted men, on an eminence commanding the ford of 
San Gabriel River. They had four pieces of artillery 
and were commanded by General Flores. Their posi- 
tion was well chosen, but the field was poorly com- 
manded. The Americans were able to haul their guns 
through the stream, although under a galling fire. The 



I3U Tlic Life and Times of 

enemy was soon driven from his vantage ground and 
after battling an hour withdrew from the field. 
On the day following, the enemy, having been rein- 
forced, made a stand on the mesa, where for awhile 
he kept up a brisk artillery firing. At the near ap- 
proach of the Americans he again gave way and with- 
drew from the scene. 

In the actions of the 8th and 9th the Americans 
had one private and two officers killed, Lieutenant 
Rowlin and Captain Gillespie, and eleven privates 
wounded. The enemy's loss is unknown. On the 
loth, Kearney resumed his march into Los Angeles, 
when the American flag again waved over the city. 



INVESTMENT OF SAN LUIS OBISPO. 



December 14th, in a night of pitchy darkness. 
Colonel Fremont, in command of his renowned bat- 
talion, surprised and captured, without resistance, the 
small town of San Luis Obispo. This place had, for a 
long time, been the seat of a commandant and was of 
some importance from a military viewpoint. Don Jesus 
Pico, a dignitary who had recently incited an insurrec- 
tion in that section of the country, was captured here, 
court-martialed and sentenced to death for having 
broken his parole. 

The following day, a little before the hour appoint- 
ed for his execution, a procession of women, headed 



General John A. Suffer. 133 

by a lady of queenly bearing, arrived at Fremont's 
headquarters. There, in the sublimity of silence, wife, 
mother, dauo:hters, and others who were endeared bv 
ties of consanguinity, knelt at the feet of the command- 
er. Few men are great whose hearts are strangers to 
tenderness. When Pico, who carried himself with 
fortitude throughout his trial, was ushered into the 
presence of Fremont and informed that he was par- 
doned he threw himself at the feet of his captor and, 
swearing fidelity to him, begged to fight, and if neces- 
sary to die, for him. 

Fremont's battalion was the most formidable body 
of men that participated in the conquest of California. 
The American portion of it were men of daring and 
endurance; and some were men of erudition who in 
after years became known to advantage in public af- 
fairs. The Indians who formed a part of it were W^alla- 
Wallas, Tulares, Mokelumnes and Delawares. The 
latter were the best soldiers among the redskins. 
They spoke better English and were familiar with the 
use of firearms. Besides, they were a select few ; hav- 
ing been chosen by Fremont because of their courage, 
strength, agility and valuable experience in the dif- 
ferent modes of Indian warfare. They were as true 
to Fremont, whom they had learned to love and re- 
spect, as the needle is to the pole. 

The \\'alla-Wallas were little inferior to the Dela- 
wares in prowess. In horsemanship, they had few 



134 ^^^^' ^^f^ ^'^<^ Times of 

superiors. They, too, were strong, agile and brave. 
Nearly every man in the battalion was fit to take com- 
mand. There were Bryant, Semple, Redding, Hens- 
ley and Kit Carson, all men of wide fame. 



BATTLE OF SALINAS. 



About the first of November Captain Burroughs 
with a hundred and fifty volunteers undertook to de- 
liver five hundred government horses to Fremont to 
be used by him in a campaign against the South. The 
Walla-Wallas were decelerated w^ith war paint and 
dress. Indeed, they were appalling spectacles. On the 
fifteenth the command encamped near the rancho of 
Gomez, where they were joined by a few volunteers 
from some of the neighboring posts that were oc:u- 
pied by the Americans. 

On the morning of the sixteenth the enemy was seen 
in hostile array on the plains of Salinas. The Ameri- 
cans being greatly outnum.bered, Burroughs ordered 
a consultation. Some of the volunteers who were in- 
experienced, yet brave to a fault, were eager for the 
fray and urged to be led on. Some of the W^alla- 
W^allas being in advance of the main army, on enter- 
ing an oak grove were soon surrounded by the enemy, 
when a brisk fire on both sides was continued for 
some time. The Indians with their knives duof holes 



General John A. Sutter. 135 

in the soft loam large enough to receive nearly their 
whole bodies. From these miniature breastworks 
they were able to carry on an obstinate warfare. The 
Californians after seeing the Indians scalp a few of 
their comrades began to give way. 

The casualties on the American side were four men 
killed and seven badly wounded. The loss of the 
enemy is unknown. The Californians were commanded 
by Don Manuel Castro. 

The author, in justice to himself as well as to his 
narrative, will say that the Indians were restricted to 
usag'es of civilized warfare. 



FALL OF SAN JUAN. 



On the eighth day of July, 1846, Purser Fontleroy, 
of the war vessel Savannah, organized a company of 
dragoons out of volunteers from the ships and from 
the mixed nationalities on shore. This was done for 
ihe purpose of reconnoitering and of keeping com- 
munication open between Monterey and other posts in 
possession of the Americans. On the seventeenth of 
July this company set out on a mar:h to San Juan, th^ 
object being to raise the United States flag over tliar 
place and to capture the munitions which were there 
in concealment. 

Colonel Fremont, with the same object in view, left 
vSacramento on the twelfth and by rapid marching pre- 



I T,6 The Life and Times of 

ceded Fontleroy by an hour, took the place without fir- 
ing a g-un and captured the following military stores : 
Nine pieces of cannon, two hundred old muskets, 
twenty kegs of powder and sixty thousand pounds of 
cannon shot. In the meantime Castro and Pico concen- 
trated their forces, about six hundred strong, at Santa 
Barbara, whence they marched to Los Angeles, where 
they arrived early in August. 



DEFEAT OF FRANCISCO SANCHES. 



Captain Ward Marston of the United States Ma- 
rine Corps, in command of one hundred men, includ- 
ing officers, left San Francisco, December 19, 1846, 
in search of the enemy, w^hom he found about 
two weeks later on the plains of Santa Clara. Fran- 
cisco Sanches, who w^as in command, had collected 
about a hundred volunteers, all of whom were well 
mounted. In the engagement which followed, Mars- 
ton's casualties were one marine and one volunteer 
wounded. Sanches had four killed and five badly 
wounded. The enemy succeeded in withdrawing in 
good order. In the evening he sent a few men, under 
a flag of truce, to the Americans' camp, recjuesting an 
interview the next day with the officers in command 
of the American forces, which, b^ing granted, an 
armistice looking to a settlement was entered into. 



General John A. Sutter. 137 

At the close of war between the United States and 
Mexico, a treaty of peace, friendship, Hmits and set- 
tlement was made between the above named nations, 
dated at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, 
ratified by the President of the United States, March 
16, 1848; exchanged at Oueretaro, May 30, 1848; pro- 
claimed by the President of the United States, July 4, 
1848. The United States government engaged to pay 
to that of the Mexican Republic the sum of fifteen 
million dollars in installments for the province of Cali- 
fornia. 



THE MACNAMARA SCHEME. 



Eugenio Macnamara, a Roman Catholic priest, was 
domiciled, in 1845, o^ ^^^s at least in close touch, 
with the British legation at the City of Mexico. The 
paramount object of his stay at that place was to in- 
sinuate himself so far into the good graces of this lega- 
tion and of the authorities of the Mexican govern- 
ment as to enable him to secure by grant a large tract 
of land around San Francisco Bay, for the purpose 
of founding a colony of his countrymen. He asked that 
4,428 acres be granted to each family who should so 
colonize and that each child of a colonist should re- 
ceive half of a league. His intention was to acquire 
the entire valley of the San Joaquin. His request in- 



13C The Life and Times of 

eluded more than three thousand square leagues. He 
agreed to bring a thousand families in the beginning. 
A synopsis of his object is set forth in his memorial 
to the President of Mexico, from which I quote the 
following : *'I propose with the aid and approbation 
of your excellency to place in Upper California a col- 
ony of Irish Catholics. I have a triple object in 
making this proposition. I wish in the first place to 
advance the cause of Catholicism; in the second place, 
to contribute to the happiness of my countrymen. 
Thirdly, I desire to put an obstacle in the way of fur- 
ther usurpation on the part of irreligious nations." 

So little was the importance that the Mexican gov- 
ernment attached to its province of California and 
so great the temerity and greed of the Catholics in 
Mexico in the propagation of their religion that the 
proposition of Macnamiara was entertained by the 
central government. It was, however, referred for a 
final decision to the land-holders and local authori- 
ties of California. So great was the discontent of the 
Californians, growing out of the neglect shovvu them 
by the parent country, that it was diplomatic for the 
central government to consult their wishes. Macna- 
mara was landed in Santa Barbara by the Juno, a vessel 
of the British fleet commanded by Seymour, just when 
the pear was supposed to be ripe. Conventions had 
deliberated and preparations were advancing to com- 
ply with tlie requests of the Catholic priest. 



General John A. Sutter. 139 

Although a majority of the active men in Califor- 
nia favored issuing the grant solicited, there was a 
strong opposition to such issuance. Some argued that 
the prevailing religion in Mexico was the cause of 
her imbecility; that California had suffered from it and 
that they shuddered at the thought of allowing any 
foreign potentate to saddle a priesthood upon this 
fair land; that Catholicism was losing ground none 
too fast for the good of the country. 

The erudite Macnamara api>ears to have been in 
collusion W'ith the government officials of Great 
Britain, being for a time in the aroma of their favor 
in Mexico and landed by them in Santa Barbara from 
the Juno, a vessel of the British fleet, where he imme- 
diately obtained audience of the highest departmental 
authorities. This scheme, in which England was 
evidently interested, was wittily conceived and insidi- 
ously wrought. When J. D. Sloat gave "Old Glory" 
* to the breezes at Monterey a change came over the 
spirit of Macnamara's dream. 



140 TJie Life and Times of 



THE WALLA-WALLA ALARM. 



Just before the ides of September, 1846, New Hel- 
vetia and the adjacent colonies were alarmed at the 
report of an Indian invasion. Couriers from a hun- 
dred miles away in the direction of Oregon, brought 
word that the Walla- Wallas, 1,000 strong, under com- 
mand of Tuscola, a brave and warlike chief, had 
entered the upper Sacramento Valley for hostile pur- 
poses. They were seeking, it was said, to avenge the 
death of young Elijah, a Walla-Walla chief, who, 
they alleged, had been murdered at the fort by a Bos- 
ton man. Tuscola claimed, also, that Sutter had been 
owing some of his tribe a long time and refused pay- 
ment. The Indians, it was reported, had planned to 
drive all the horses and cattle from the settlements in 
the Sacramento Valley, in case they failed to capture 
the fort and plunder the garrison. Those who gave 
the alarm were settlers who, living up the Sacramento 
in isolated and unprotected localities, were greatly 
alarmed. The report of the alleged homicide that 
incensed the tribe was not without foundation. The 
facts in regard to it are as follows : 

In 1845, the year prior to this alarm, a small party 
of Walla- Wallas, in a peaceful pursuit, came down the 



General John A. Sutter. 141 

Sacramento Valley as far as Sutter's Fort. Here a 
misunderstanding arose between the young chief and 
Grove C. Cook, which resulted in an altercation in 
which Cook shot the chief and killed him. Ihe sym- 
pathy of the community, at the time of this tragedy, 
was with the Indian. 

What little there is known of Cook is not pleasing to 
contemplate. His deportment was seldom refined 
and never noble. He was a native of Gerrard county, 
Ky., but many years a resident of California. His 
ruling propensity was better adapted to raising a dis- 
turbance than to dissipating one. Elijah, being young 
and possessed of more or less ambition, may have been 
proud of his attainments, and, like other boys, in- 
clined to display them. Cook, forgetting that he him- 
self was once young, and magnanimity being foreign 
to his elements, became too insolent for the spirit of 
Elijah to brook. This affair was fresh in memory when 
the Walla- Walla invasion was reported and the x\meri- 
cans, realizing that the Indians had cause for griev- 
ance, the alarm was on. Couriers were dispatched in 
every direction to spread the alarm through the set- 
tlements and to solicit aid from the nearest military 
posts. Indians, spies and scouts were also dispatched 
to reconnoitre the position of the enemy and to ascer- 
tain his strength. The artillery with which the fort 
was defended was put in fine order. 

Word of the threatened attack having reached Lieut. 



142 The Life and Times of 

Revere,* who had charge of the garrison at Sonoma, 
he arrived at New Helvetia in due time with twenty- 
five well-armed men who, on reaching the fort, were 
cheered to the echo. People came from settlements 
more than one hundred miles away for mutual aid and 
protection. 

In bravery and intellectual energy the Walla-Wallas 
surpassed as a rule all other Indians of the Pacific ter- 
ritories, being hardly outclassed by the Oneidas or 
Mingoes, who flourished in the Empire State one 
hundred and twenty years ago. The Walla- Wallas 
inhabited a district bordering the Columbia River, 
where they were very powerful and far advanced in 
civilization. They cultivated their lands, raising grain 
and vegetables. Many of them owned horses and 
cows. They had also quite comfortable dwellings. 
They were peaceful among themselves, intrepid in war- 
fare and skilled in marksmanship. They had good 
rifles and abundance of ammunition which they pur- 
chased at some of the trading-posts of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. Some of them served in the conquest 
of California, having been employed by Lieutenant 
Colonel Fremont, doing service in a battalion in the 
central and southern parts of the territory, under im- 
m.ediate command of Tom Hill, a Delaware chief. 



*i,ieut. Joseph Warren Revere, afterwards Brigadier General, U. S. A., was 
born May 17, 1812, in Boston, Mass., and was the grandson of Colonel Paul 
Revere, an American engraver and patriot. The laurels this patriot won for 
himself in the American revolution are kept green in the memory of his country 
by the celebrated poem "Paul Revere's Ride." 



General Jolin A. Sutter. 143 

Elijah was the "Alexander" of the Walla-Walla na- 
tion. He was educated at Wailatpu, the ag-ency of 
Dr. \Miitman, where he advanced rapidly in his stud- 
ies. While attending vthis school he contracted an 
affectionate regard for "Angeline,'' one of his class- 
mates, who was a great favorite at the school, being 
much loved and respected by her teachers, Mr. and 
Mrs. Whitman. This Walla- Walla princess and the 
young chief were promised in marriage. The untimely 
death of her lover was a terrible blow to her. Curran's 
daughter could scarcel}' have sorrowed more over 
the tragical end of her lamented lover, "Robert Em- 
met." 

Soon after the tragedy of Cook and Elijah, repre- 
sentatives from the above named tribes, and others less 
powerful, met in council for the purpose of discussing 
the situation. The Walla-Wallas, feeling aggrieved, 
sought retaliation or redress, their choice being to in- 
vade New Helvetia with an armed force, reduce Sut- 
ter's Fort, plunder the colony and drive away the 
stock. 

The arguments advanced, pro and con, were not 
without force and eloquence. The first address was 
delivered by Tuscola, who, in a carefully planned and 
well-matured speech, set forth his grievances. After 
appealing to the patriotism of his fellow warriors, 
he asked the tribes in council to make common cause 
with him,, in an. effort to punish the Boston men as 



144 ^^^^ ^^f^ ^^^^ Times of 

they deserved. ' He insisted that not one of his tribe 
ever wronged a Boston man. The Walla- Wallas, he 
said, had been the Boston man's friend. The return 
for this friendship was their fallen chief. A Bos- 
ton man in cold blood and without cause mur- 
dered him. Elijah is no more. The cedar moans 
over his grave. The panther screams around him, but 
he hears him not. The song-bird cheers him no more. 
Angeline weeps. She listens in vain for the voice of 
her lover. Elijah is gone from her gaze forever. ''My 
brothers, Tuscola feels bad. Tuscola is willing to take 
chances on the field of battle. The fortunes of war 
cannot leave us in a condition more deplorable. If 
we conquer we shall be respected for our freedom. If 
we are defeated our race will honor our memory. 
Tuscola is no coward. He turns his back on nO' man. 
Farewell." 

This stirring appeal was strongly emphasized. The 
speaker's gestures indexed an agitated mind. His in- 
fluence was wonderful. His sentiment spread among 
the listening warriors like darkness over a sundown 
sea. The spirit of hostility and revenge, so easily 
excited in the red man, having come to the front in full 
array, the warriors asked to be led to New Helvetia. 

"Sebago," a Pitt River chief, replied to Tuscola in 
a speech that would honor a modern legislature. He 
said no Indian felt more deeply than he the truth of 
what the speaker had said. The Walla- Wallas have 



General John A. Sutter. 



145 



suffered a great wrong — an irreparable loss in the 
tragic death of their noble chief. The Pitt 
Rivers and the Klamaths share the injury — 
share the bereavement with them. Every red man 
laments the loss of the fallen chief. This no one will 
deny. But what are we to do? The past is gone be- 
yond return. War can never bring Elijah back. Let 




SEBAGO. 



us forget our grief and use the calm, sober judgment 
of good warriors. The Boston men are strong, In- 
dians are weak. Walla-Wallas are brave; Klamaths 
are brave; Pitt Rivers are brave; all red men, brave. 
Red men should be wise; they should be prudent. 
Are they ready to destroy our race ? Indians will soon 



146 The Life and Times of 

be gone. "Our kindred will soon be forgotten. I, too, 
feel bad. If we attack New Helvetia not one of our 
warriors will come home. Calm yourself, my brother. 
Go to Sutter and state your case. Smoke the pipe of 
peace with him. He is a safe friend — a dangerous ene- 
my. Be his friend ; save cayuse ; save warriors ; save 
the Indian race. My heart is breaking. Farewell." 

Sebago's dissuasive address, calming the spirit of 
revenge, averted a powerful confederacy. The gentle 
touch of forgetfulness softened prevailing anguish. 
The Walla- Walla excitement, at that time, was with- 
out cause. The alarmist who wrought the settlement 
to fever heat had seen a few old squaws and some chil- 
dren going in a southerly direction. The courier who 
saw them, multiplied their numbers, changed tnen* sex 
and established their purpose in his excited imagina- 
tion. 

Don Quixote, a Walla- Walla boy who lived near 
Fort Vancouver, possessed a fondness and no less apti- 
tude for music. Having heard an American trapper 
play some simple melodies on a key-bugle, he became 
enamored of the instrument and of the music it made. 
He bought the horn for a beaver skin. In a short 
time he learned to play all the melodies the trapper 
taught him, and performed them better than his teach- 
er. He increased his collection of melodies by com- 
posing several, all of which he played in exquisite taste. 
His tribe was proud of his performances; especially 



General Jo Jin A. Sutter 



147 



was he a favorite with the dark-eyed maids, whose 
smiles he won by the grateful power of song. His 
personal appearance was traceable to the social influ- 
ence of the Caucasians with whom the Indians were in 
frequent touch. He spoke English fluently and he 
was several shades lighter than his mother. 




DON QUIXOTE. 

His vanity was about equally divided between his 
mustache and his music. In the distribution of. her 
gifts. Nature frugally decorated his lip with a glossy 
beard. This he trained with exactness. The hairs 
were so thin that if one wandered from its latitude his 



148 The Life and Times of 

equilibrium was jeopardized. He was tall, graceful 
and of commanding presence. He carried his bugle 
in a wildcat skin tanned with the hair on. The com- 
munity, because of his music, contributed to his sup- 
port. He was amiable and well dressed. He was to 
the Walla- Wallas what Van Corlear was to the Dutch 
in New Amsterdam and can be likened unto him, who, 
Irving says, "stopped occasionally in the villages to 
eat pumpkin pies and dance at country frolics with the 
Yankee lasses." He wore a claw-hammer coat 
adorned with brass buttons. 



THE REED-DONNER PARTY. 



In the summer of 1846 quite a large emigrant train 
crossed the Plains, some on their way to Oregon and 
others having California for their objective point. 

Near Fort Bridger the train divided, the two 
parts pursuing different routes. One party, and 
the only one to which I can devote any atten- 
tion, is known in history as the Reed and Don- 
ner Company. This company pursued a new road 
which they explored much of the way. Being 
detained by the search for new roads, almost 
perishing for want of water on the desert, and after 
trying, in vain, to recover eighteen of their oxen that 
had wandered away at night in search of water, they 



General John A. Sutter. 149 

did not reach the pass in the California mountains until 
the thirty-first of October. With a prosperous journey 
they would have been there by the last of September. 

The party told Kit Carson, whom they met on the 
Plains, that they expected to lay over awhile for the 
purpose of recruiting themselves and their animals 
before crossing the mountains. Carson, in reply, said 
it would be quite late before they reached the foot-hills 
and as the snow falls much earlier some seasons than 
it does others, any delay would be dangerous. He ad- 
vised them by all means to take no chances till they 
were on the western slope of the Sierras. 

The snow, which fell several weeks earlier that 
autumn than usual, soon accumulated to the depth of 
fifteen feet, and traveling was at an end for the time 
being. Not having the heart to relate this story in 
detail, I will give a few w^ell-authenticated reports 
referring thereto, and take leave of the subject. 

Extracts from a letter from Mr. George McKinstry 
to Mr. Edwin Bryant: 

''Captain E. Kern informed you of the men sent up 
from this place (Sutter's Fort) to the assistance of 
the sufferers, when we were first informed of their sit- 
uation. I will again give you a list of their names, 
as I think they ought to be recorded in letters of gold : 
Aquila Glover, R. S. Montrey, Daniel Rhodes, John 
Rhodes, Daniel Tucker, Joseph Sel, and Edward Copy- 
mier. Mr. Glover, who was put in charge of this little 



150 TJic Life and Times of 

brave band of men, lends me his journal, from which 
1 extract as follows: — 'On the 13th of February, 1847, 
our party arrived at the Bear River Valley. 14th. 
Remained in camp preparing packs and provisions. 
15th. Left Bear River Valley, and traveled fifteen 
miles and encamped on Yuba River. i6th. Traveled 
three miles and stopped to make snowshoes and 
camped on Yuba River — snow fifteen feet deep, dry 
and soft. 17th. Traveled five miles. i8th. Traveled 
eight miles, and encamped at the head of Yuba River. 
19th. Traveled nine miles, crossed the summit of the 
California mountains, and reached part of the suf- 
fering company about sundown, in camp near Truckee 
Lake.' Mr. Glover informs me that he found them in 
a most deplorable condition, entirely beyond descrip- 
tion. Ten of their number had already died from 
starvation; and he thinks several others will die in 
camp, as they are too low to resuscitate. The 
whole party had been living on bullock-hides four 
weeks. On the morning of the 20th, the party 
went down to the camp of Geo. Donner, eight 
miles below the first camp, and found them with 
but one hide left. Tliey had come to the con- 
clusion, when that was consumed, to dig up the 
bodies of those who had died from starvation and use 
them as food. When the party arrived at the camp, 
they were obliged to guard the little stock of provisions 
that they had carried over the mountains on their back, 



General JoJin A. Suffer. 151 

en foot, for the relief of the poor beings, as they were 
in such a starving condition that they would have im- 
mediately used up all the small store. They even 
stole the buckskin strings from their snowshoes, and 
ate them. This brave little band of men immediately 
left with twenty-one persons, principally women and 
children, for the settlements. They left all the food 
they could spare with those (twenty-nine in number) 
that they were obliged to leave behind, and promised 
them that they would immediately return to their 
assistance. They were successful in bringing all safe 
over the mountains. Four of the children they w^ere 
obliged to carry on their backs ; the balance walked. 
On their arrival at the Bear River Valley they met a 
small party with provisions, that Captain Kern, of this 
fort, had sent for then* relief. The same day they met 
Mr. Reed with fifteen men, on foot, packed with pro- 
visions, who' ere this have reached the sufferers. Lieu- 
tenant Woodworth was going ahead with a full force 
and will himself visit them in their mountain camp, 
and see that every person is brought out. Mr. Green- 
wood was three days behind Mr. Reed, with horses. 
Captain Kern will remain in camp, with the Indian 
soldiers, to guard the provisions and horses, and 
will send the sufferers down to this post as soon as 
possible, where they will be received by Captain J. A. 
Sutter with all the hospitality for which he is so cele- 
brated. And in the meantime Captain Sutter will 



1^2 



The Life and Times of 



keep up a communication with Captain Kern's camp, 
so as to be in- readiness to assist him on all occasions. 
Mr. Glover informed me that the wagons belonging 
to the emigrants are buried some fifteen feet under the 
snow. He thinks that it will be some three weeks 
from this date before Lieutenant Woodworth can ar- 
rive at this fort. Mr. Glover left the party at Bear 
River Valley on express, as I had written to him, by 
the second party, of the death of one member of his 
family and the severe illness of his wife. The balance 
of the party will reach here in some four or five days. 
The weather is very fine and we have no doubt but 
that Lieutenant Woodworth will be able to bring all 
left on the mountains." 

The people of San Francisco at a public meeting 
raised fifteen hundred dollars for an organized party 
that would penetrate the mountains for the relief ot 
those sufferers. 

I will also quote from the ''California Star" of April 
lo, 1847: "A more shocking scene cannot be im- 
agined, than that witnessed by the party of men who 
went to the relief of the unfortunate emigrants in the 
California mountains. The bones of those who had 
died and been devoured by the miserable ones that 
still survived, were lying around their tents and cabins. 
Bodies of men, women and children with half the 
flesh torn from them, lay on every side. 

''A woman sat by the side of the body of her hus- 



General John A. Slitter. 153 

band, who had just died, cutting out his tongue; th^ 
heart she had already taken out, broiled, and eaten ! 
The daughter was seen eating the father — the mother 
that (viz: body) of her children — children that of 
father and mother. The emaciated, wild, and ghastly 
appearance of the survivors added to the horror of 
the scene. Language cannot describe the awful change 
that a few weeks of dire sufferings had wrought in 
the minds of these wretched and pitiable beings. Those 
who, but one month before, would have shuddered and 
sickened at the thought of eating human flesh, or of 
killing their companions and relatives to preserve their 
own lives, now looked upon the opportunity the acts 
afforded them of escaping the most dreadful of deaths, 
as a providential interference in their behalf. Calcu- 
lations were coldly made, as they sat around their 
gloomy campfires, for the next and succeeding meals. 
Various expedients were devised to prevent the dread- 
ful crime of murder, but they finally resolved to kill 
those who had the least claims to longer existence. Just 
at this moment, however, as if by divine interposition, 
some of them died, which afforded the rest temporary 
relief. Some sank into the arms of death cursing God 
for their miserable fate, while the last whisperings of 
others were prayers and songs of praise to the Al- 
mighty. 

"After the first few deaths, but the one all-absorb- 
ing thought of individual self-preservation prevailed. 



154 ^^'<^' ^'7<^' <^'"^^ Times of 

The fountains of natural affection were dried up. The 
cords that once vibrated with connubial, parental, and 
filial affection were torn asunder, and each one 
seemed resolved, without regard tO' the fate of others, 
to escape from the impending calamity. Even the 
wild, hostile mountain Indians, who once visited their 
camps, pitied them and instead of pursuing the natural 
impulse of their hostile feelings towards the whites, 
and destroying them, as they could easily have done, 
divided their own scanty supply of food with them. 

''So changed had the emigrants become, that when 
the rescuing party arrived with food, some of them 
cast it aside, and seemed to prefer the putrid human 
flesh that still remained. The day before the part} 
arrived, one of the emigrants took the body of a child 
about four years of age, in bed with him, and devoured 
the whole l^efore morning; and the next day ate 
another, about the same size, before noon." 

By an inventory carefully taken at Camp Desert, it 
was ascertained that their supply of provisions would 
not do them till they could reach the Sacramento 
Valley. Two of their number, C. T. Stanton of Chi- 
cago and William McCutchen of Missouri, volunteered 
to undertake the perilous task of pushing on with all 
possible dispatch to Sutter's Fort and of returning to 
the party with such assistance as they could procure. 
They were hospitably received by General Sutter. 
Some mules were packed with provisions and Stan- 



General John A. Sutter. 155 

ton was accompanied l)y Lewis and Salvador, two of 
Sutter's most reliable Indiajis ; McCutchen, being sick, 
was unable to return with them. The two Indians 
displayed genuine heroism. With all their power of 
endurance, they perished in the mountains. They 
refused to eat human flesh. Out of a party of ninety, 
forty-two perished on the journey, nearly all of them 
in the mountains.'''^ 



WHITE HORSE AND PICKET. 



Some time in the autumn of 1848, a resident of 
Sutter's Fort, who was an emigrant from Oregon and 
who went by the name of ''White Horse," undertook 
to fence in an open space in the fort. C. E. Picket, 
Esq., also a resident at the fort, and since a well-known 
character in the State, claimed the open space, and 
taking the law in his own hands knocked the fence 
down, "\\niite Horse'' started to rebuild his fence, 
and Picket interfered ; an altercation occurred, and 
Picket shot and killed his antagonist. 

There were then 200 white men at the fort, one of 
whom (William Turner) was acting as sheriff by 
appointment of Captain Sutter. He took Picket in 
charge, detaining him as prisoner. Picket refused 
to submit, but Turner was a man of great strength and 



* For a complete account of this awful affair, the reader is referred to a care- 
fully prepared work by C. F. McGlashan, Esq. 



156 The Life and Times of 

courage and well fitted for his office. He disarmed 
his prisoner and forced him to submit. It was then 
and there determined that Picket should be tried 
for murder. A court was instituted with Sam Bran- 
nan on the bench. A jury of eight was impaneled 
to try the case. The trial came off the same day of the 
homicide and Picket pleaded his own case. Brannan 
in his charge to the jury said that they lived in a coun- 
try where there were laws and that the laws should be 
obeyed; but that if their verdict be imprisonment 
there was no prison in the place where the culprit 
could be kept. The jury, after being out six hours, 
agreed upon a verdict of not guilty. 

In those pioneer days when a man violated a crim- 
inal law within the jurisdiction of New Helvetia, he 
was soon brought to the bar of public justice and 
awarded a fair and impartial trial and a prompt de- 
cision. Every proposal to defer proceedings found a 
speedy death, ready grave and no resurrection. The 
time for dallying in voluptuous courts, the lawyers' 
v/eal the public's woe, had not arrived. The fall- 
ing down or selling out of counsel, the bribing of 
''judge and jury," and the custom of selecting men 
of confessed ignorance to fix a verdict, w^ere, as far 
as this locality was concerned, yet in incubation. 



General John A. Suffer. 157 



MASSACRE OF THE WHITMAN FAMILY. 



On Monday, November 29, 1874, the horrible mas- 
sacre of Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife and friends, 
by the Cayuse Indians, took place at the Wailatpu 
Mission. Dr. Whitman was a man whose characteris- 
tics it is pleasing to look back upon ; brave in peril, and 
patient in adversity. He was kind to his fellows and 
devoted to his calling and to his country. His wife, 
who was very dear to him, was amiable beyond her 
sex. The Doctor's noble spirit harbored no malice 
and his actions were above reproach. He was a 
friend to the red man ; but the behavior of others, who 
were less kind, diplomatic and considerate, fixed upon 
him and his its terrible consequences. He was a loss 
to the moral and intellectual forces of the pioneer west. 



158 The Life and Times of 



THE MORMONS AND THE FLAG. 



When the enraged citizens ousted the Mormons 
from Nauvoo, IlUnois, about fifteen hundred of them 
being disgusted with the American flag and the poUti- 
cal institutions over which it waved, took their per- 
sonal effects and journeyed toward the setting sun. 
A few of them went to Beaver Island, in Lake Mich- 
igan. This beautiful isde lies southwest of Little 
Traverse Bay and about thirty-five miles from the 
main-land. It is favored w^ith fertile soil and salubri- 
ous air which make it a desirable summer home. The 
winters, however, are rather severe. In this retreat 
the Mormons flourished for a number of years. Some 
of them, being caught thieving on the main-land (the 
best societies liave burdensome members), a body of 
armed men, self authorized, visited the island and 
notified them to quit the country within four days. 
The armed men remained on the island to see if the 
Mormons honored their request. They honored it. 
This action of the citizens w^as not concerted nor even 
conceived until the offending parties had many times 
repeated their illicit actions. 

One evening a sail was seen to enter a recess in 
the main-land, whereupon three or four men, induced 
by curiosity, went to ascertain what was going on. 



General John A. Sutter. 159 

They caught two men in the a:t of giving a fat steer 
passage to Beaver Island. The steer being identified 
l)y its owner, the thief was apprehended and chastised. 
An Irishman, one of the arresting party, took a shovel 
from the sailboat and handing it to the Mormon said : 
"Take this shovel, dig a hole in that sand (poUiting 
to a bank), two feet wide, three feet deep an' six feet 
long, damn quick," 

At the time the Mormons left Nauvoo, others were 
proselyting in the Atlantic states. Prominent among 
them was Samuel Brannan, who with some assist- 
ance, purchased the ship Brooklyn and fitting it out 
with berths and other passenger accommodations sailed 
from New York City about the last of January, 1846, 
well laden with passengers, about two hundred of 
whom were Mormons. 

This party expected to co-operate with the Mormon 
emigrants who started from Nauvoo, in acquiring from 
the Mexican government numerous and extensive land 
grants as near as possible to San Francisco. Bran- 
nan, who was a newspaper man and liad edited a 
paper in New York City, brought a printing press 
and many other things thought to be of great impor- 
tance in their prospective colony, such as hoes, shovels, 
plows, harrows, and the like. 

W'ith this outfit, the Brooklyn "doubled the Horn", 
and after a pleasant voyage dropped anchor, in the 
Bay of San Francisco, August 31, 1846. Montgom- 



i6o The Life and Times of 

ery had taken possession of San Francisco but a few 
weeks before, and had hoisted the Stars and 
^Stripes over the pubhc square. The day on 
which the Brooklyn sailed through the Golden 
Gate was unusually mild and beautiful. The 
grandeur of the landscape stretching away in the dis- 
tance was softened and blended by a vaporless atmos- 
phere made lovely by the cerulean tints of heaven. This 
was the long and faithfully sought haven of repose. 
This was the promised land. Divinity had shaped their 
ends. Here was the place to warble in an unknow^n 
tongue in all the beauty of holiness. Here, on this 
virgin soil, polygamous institutions should bud and 
bloom. The atmosphere, so mild and so lovely, had 
not been contaminated by the bane of legislative en- 
actments or constitutional laws. All the fascinating 
charms of nature were still rich in virgin purity. 
This was Eden regained. Every Adam possessing a 
multiplicity of Eves could bask in the charms of per- 
petual smiles. 

As the proud ship moved slowly and grandly over 
the dark waters of the bay, and its bows were being 
kissed by the ripples of a summer's sea, Brannan was 
observed to lean against the railing and, with his hand 
shading his face, look long and steadily toward the 
shore, while his face changed appearance as often as 
a dying dolphin. All at once his countenance became 
a picture of despair, and, pointing toward our national 



General John A. Sntter. i6i 

emblem as it waved in all its starry splendor and glory 
ever the public square, exclaimed: "By God! There's 
that d — d American Flag!" 

The foregoing is, by no means, intended as a reflec- 
tion on the Mormons, or on Mr. Brannan individually. 
1 :an realize something of his disappointment at being 
suddenly advised, by a most reliable counselor, that 
his hopes of becoming an empire builder in California 
were forever blighted. 

A party was dispatched by the Mormons of San 
Francisco to the emigrant train that was under the 
leadership of Brigham Young, bearing the mournful 
tidings that the United States had taken California, 
and that it would be well for them to select a "Mecca" 
somewhere in the interior, where they would be, for a 
time at least, beyond the polluting and ungodly influ- 
ences of civilization. The advice was accepted, and 
the borders of the beautiful Salt Lake, in Utah, 
became the chosen temporary abode of the sanctified. 
The Great Salt Lake country in its present condi- 
tion declares the industry, perseverance and enterprise 
of the Mormons. 



i62 The Life and Times of 



EARLY CALIFORNIA SOCIETY. 



Society ■Linderwent little perceptible change in Cali- 
fornia during the forty years immediately preceding 
the discovery of gold in 1848. Prior to that time the 
influx of humankind from other nations consisted 
mostly of trappers, hunters and adventurers, whose in- 
fluence for good was little felt in society. 

Some of them may have enjoyed but little refine- 
ment in the country whence they came; and having 
been absent, through the lapse of long intervals, from 
the benign influences of society, friendship and love 
were evidently in a state of social decline. They had 
gradually become indifferent to the charms of ele- 
gance and refinement until they sank to a social con- 
dition more rude than that of their former years. 

When amiable and refined woman began to favor 
society in the west with her fascinating charms, a new 
social era dawned upon this beautiful country. New 
examples were set, new and commendable emulations 
were inspired. In the palmy days of pioneer life 
in California the environments attending a woman's 
birth or early womanhood cast neither sunshine 
nor shadow on her present pathway. Wealth gave her 
no preferment, poverty no subtle slight. Her personal- 
ity was the blossom of her nature; her politeness was 



General John A. Sutter. 163 

her passport to circles of the most refined society. 
Women of humble birth and others whose hopes had 
been blighted by the pitiless storms of adversity and 
the sorrows induced by indiscretion, found in Califor- 
nia a welcome, a kind word and a helping hand. So- 
ciety was without caste, without clan. Cheered by the 
pleasures of companionship, women who had drunk of 
sorrow's cup came to the surface and, in the hands of 
social lapidaries, became burnished till they sparkled 
like diamonds. 

At the time of Sutter's advent into the Sacramento 
valley, society in the more settled portions of the coun- 
try, where the frequency of neighbors could be regard- 
ed as society, was less formal and straight-laced on 
points of etiquette than it was then, or is now, in Dub- 
lin or Paris. ''Mrs. Grundy" had not breathed into 
the ears of dame and lass the contagious fancies of 
her social frenzy. The cinches of contortion were 
strangers to their zones. They had no strings to re- 
strict, no formulas to direct. 

The complexion of the girls of ''sweet sixteen," 
which in a sunny clime is so apt to be inconsonant with 
beauty, was, in some instances, a happy blending of 
olive and rose tints. Their dark expressive eyes were 
ornamented with long, black lashes which formed a 
beautiful contrast with the soft bloom of the cheek. 
Their lips were full and pink, and when parted, the 
beholder was delighted with a display of pearly teeth 



"164 The Life and Times of 

set with unsurpassed regularity. Their chief pleasure 
was found at the dancing party, where they glided 
through the mazy throng like celestial visions, stepping 
tlie measures with adroitness as the musician swept 
them from his instrument. 

It was a rare treat to witness a spirited conversation, 
in the Spanish language, between two of those musi- 
cally voiced women. Especially was it entertaining if 
the speakers were courteous enough for one to remain 
quiet while the other was talking. When more than 
two of them were present, the charm of the conversa- 
tion was absent; as all, I am told, would talk simul- 
taneously, as women are wont (with some exceptions) 
the world over. Sometimes they rode to the party on 
favorite ponies, but more frequently went on foot, did 
the distance not exceed five or six miles, carrying in 
their hands a pair of slippers, which they adjusted by 
the wayside before arriving at the scene of festivity. 
No hose were worn. \Vhen one of them accepted an 
invitation from a cavalier to attend a party she con- 
sidered him obligated to bestow upon her so much of 
h.is attention as she might require ( the reader is left to 
estimate that amount) during the life of that occa- 
sion, and she would insist that her social rights be 
respected. Her assumed jurisdiction over the deport- 
ment of her beau ceased, however, with the ])assing 
festival, leaving him to the exercise of his own 
discretion respecting the future. 



General John A. Sutter. 165 

If a man were apprehended for wife stealing- he was 
sentenced to a bastinado, unless the man whose wife 
was stolen thought the thief had done him a favor, 
chances ]>eing about equal. 

Social pleasures consisted, also, in the neighborhood 
visits, on which occasions the visitors were treated 
to song and guitar music and a collation of wine and 
sweetmeats. They were also frequently treated to ex- 
hibitions of horsemanship, which were participated in 
by the young cavaliers and witnessed by the ladies, 
who bestowed a bouquet or garland on the hero of the 
day. 

Those young men were, as I have said, among the 
cleverest horseback riders in the world, the Cossack 
and Mameluke not excepted. A cavalier who could 
not pick a silver dollar from the ground when riding 
at high speed, was not looked upon as an expert eques- 
trian. The rider was less fond of his liorse than he 
was of exploiting him ; for, in fact, when the noble 
animal was worn out and broken down he went ro 
grass, like an old broken-down politician with some 
exceptions as to reputation, and another was selected 
from the goodly number his owner controlled, to take 
his place. A representative Californian of riper years, 
whom the spirit of frolic had deserted for a wilder and 
otherwise more cherished abode, unlike the ambitious 
youth, was more attached to his horse than to his repu- 
tation as a horseman, treating him not only with kind 



1 66 The Life and Tunes of 

care, but with caresses of fondness. His horse came 
in for the lion's share of his affection, and the 
residue was divided between his dogs and his 
wife; a custom which time with its incessant 
changes has not • consigned to the past. Why these 
men were excellent riders will be understood on a 
moment's reflection. The most of them were owners 
of cattle for which they must care by corraling, 
branding and moving from one range to another, all 
of which must be performed by men in the saddle. 
Those who owned no cattle were employed by men 
who did. 

Business pursuits called boys into the saddle at an 
early age and kept them there a great deal of the time. 
As experience is the mother of skill, they became ex- 
pert horsemen as a direct and natural consecjuence. It 
is easily perceived that a primitive Californian was 
organized for enduring a vast amount of "rest." Some 
of them being "born tired" found difficulty in obtain- 
ing sufficient rest; being scarcely visited in life with 
the delicious repose that follows a protracted mental 
or physical exertion. The California women as a rule 
were more bland and refined than the men. Was 
there ever a rule that suited all tribes and nations with 
fewer exceptions ? 

Gambling was also a favorite amusement, and the 
losing party appeared to enjoy himself as well as the 
winner, always promptly paying the losses. Gambling 



General John A. Sutter. 167 

was not confined to the men. Women participated in 
the exciting game, retiring from the field always before 
their money was gone. 



JAMES W. MARSHALL. 



James W. Marshall, of whom frequent mention is 
made in this work, was born in Hope township, Hun- 
terdon count}^ New Jersey, in 181 2. His father was 
a coach and w^agon builder, and he was brought up to 
the same trade. His early life presents no features of 
special interest ; but at early manhood he began to 
yearn for pioneer life, and turning his back on the 
place of his birth, he journeyed to Crawfordsville, In- 
diana, where he engaged his services for a few months 
as carpenter, after which he journeyed westward to 
Warsaw, Illinois. After a brief stay at this place, 
not having reached the Mecca of his pilgrimage, he 
resumed his journey westward, pulling up this time 
at the Platte Purchase, near Fort Leavenworth, in 
iMissouri, where he located a homestead and entered 
into trading. 

He struggled for several years in this place, con- 
tending with poverty, in chief, and ague and fever as 
its auxiliaries. A party going to California having been 
made up in the neighborhood, he held a "round up," 
gathering together his stock (one horse), and joined 



1 68 



The Life and Times of 



the party. They started about the first of May, 1844, 
with a train of a hundred wagons. They reached Cali- 
fornia by the way of Oregon, proceeded thence to 
vShasta, and w^ent uito camp at Cache Creek, about 
fortv miles from New Helvetia. 







JAME& W. MARSHALL. 

Sutter's Fort w^as already erected, as w'e have seen, 
and was regarded with envy by the Mexicans, awe by 
the Indians and admiration by all others. Thither 
Marshall went, and entered into Sutter's employ some 
time in July, 1845. 



General John A. Sutter. 169 

Sutter was engaged in raising grain and stock, and 
also in merchandising on a small scale, his trade be- 
ing mostly in blankets and supplies for trappers and 
hunters. Marshall having become accustomed in 
early life to the use of tools, and possessmg some 
knowledge of mechanical principles, was employed for 
a time in constructing and repairing spinning wheels, 
making plows and in building and repairing carts and 
ox yokes, and in the capacity of Jack-at-all-trades. 

As a man, he was stubborn about most things, and 
wanting in perseverance and mental concentration in 
any realm of lofty thought. Whatever may be said for 
or against him, he certainly was a useful man in and 
about the colony. 

The honor of discovering gold in California is just- 
ly settled upon him by facts and by common consent. 
True it is that prior discoveries were made and gold 
was actually taken from a mine far south of Coloma 
and conveyed to the mint in Philadelphia before Mar- 
shall came to California. This find, however, at- 
tracted but little attention at the time, as the precious 
metal did not appear in cjuantities sufficient to in- 
duce an}^ extended mining experiments, and the mine, 
as a wealth-producing agency, acquired no reputaticni. 
At other times gold was found, but there was little 
importance attached to the discovery, as it was but lit- 
tle knowm and promised only small and uncertain re- 
turns for time and money expended. 



170 The Life and Times of 

As early as 1579, Sir Francis Drake, the noted free- 
booter, stole a bar of gold from an Indian who was 
sleeping- on the bank of a small stream that empties 
into the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco Bay and 
Bodega. The Indian who was despoiled of his treas- 
ure w^as in love with a chief's daughter wdiom the 
chief had promised him provided he would bring him 
a bar of gold, the dimensions of which were given. 
When on his way to see the maid's father and deliver 
to him the treasure, being fatigued and overcome by 
sleep, he laid himself down where the waves murmured 
his lullaby. While there Drake despoiled him. 

In the Coloma gold fields there were two competitors 
for the honor of finding the first gold. One Peter 
Wymer claimed to have found the first nugget of gold 
in the tail-race, and that his wife boiled it in a kettle of 
lye to ascertain if it were gold. This report evidently 
is true. At all events, for the sake of argument, we 
will concede its correctness. Inasmuch as the fact 
of Wymer' s find remained a secret until long after 
Marshall brought his discovery to light, the said Wy- 
mer can never share the honor of the great discovery; 
The world has settled it upon James Wilson Marshall, 
and upon him alone the honor must rest of opening the 
gates to the boundless gold field, and thereby creating 
the greatest exodus of which history furnishes any 
account. 

The Norsemen undoubtedlv discovered America 



General John A. Sutter. 171 

long before Columbus came here. But few, however, 
knew this fact during the lifetime of the great Geno- 
ese navigator. It is reported on excellent authority 
that Columbus knew all about the colony of the Norse- 
men in America earlier than 1492. The existence of 
America was not known to the world generally till 
after the voyage of Columbus had been made, and the 
honor is placed to his credit. 

It is a pleasure to state that in February, 1872, the 
legislature of California passed an Act appropriating 
$200 per month for two years for Marshall's relief; 
providing, however, that the appropriation cease at 
his death in the event that he should die before the 
expiration of two years. This appropriation was kept 
up until March, 1876, when the legislature passed an 
Act appropriating $100 per month for two years, pro- 
viding that the warrants be not drawn after his death. 
The last seven years of Marshall's life he drew no pen- 
sion or relief from the State, living in poverty and 
alone. 

His friends tried to make a great man of him, but 
failed. He was not created for that purpose, the ele- 
ments requisite to greatness not being inherent in his 
nature. He discovered the gold only by incident while 
in the employ of another man. Had he been in search 
of gold, basing a conclusion on the deductions of geol- 
ogy, or the mineral conditions of the soil, or upon any 
environments that led him to suspect the presence of 



1/2 TJic Life and Times of 

guld,— I repeat, had he found gold under circumstances 
h'ke these, he would have possessed an entirely dif- 
ferent organism, and one which might have borne him 
to greatness on the tide of his important discovery. 

He was morbidly jealous of Sutter, who was very 
popular with the pioneers, while he was precisely the 
reverse. Being disappointed in some of his earlier as- 
pirations, the shady side of life having been reached 
with no well-defined object established, his financial 
and social status having remained below a standard he 
might have desired, and possessing no strong and 
happy ties of kindred to bind him to any particular 
locality, he drifted about on the tide of circumstances, 
until, bending under the accumulated burdens of ad- 
A'anced age, worn out and broken down, a condition 
hastened by irregular habits, he died alone in a cabin 
at Kelsey near Coloma on the loth day of August, 
1885, in his seventy-fourth year. 

At an expense of $5,000 a monument has since been 
erected to his memory and to perpetuate the day and 
place of his important discovery. The monument 
stands on the summit of Marshall Hill in Coloma at 
an altitude of 3,000 feet above the American River, 
a half-mile from Sutter's mill-site. 



General John A. Sutter. 173 



THE GOLD FIND. 



Oil being- discharged from the army at the close of 
the war with Mexico, some of the Mormons came 
direct to San Francisco and M(^-nterey, where a few of 
them did good service in the conquest of California. 
Their forces became so augmented by the Brooklyn 
passengers that they were a power in the land. 

The rapid influx of immigrants increased the de- 
mand for lumber. Obedient to this growing demand, 
Sutter sent an exploring party with instructions to 
search for good timber, good water-power and good 
location, with accessibility as the determming condi- 
tion. 

James W. Marshall was selected to perform the task. 
Accordingly, some time in May, 1847, ^^^ ^^'^^ dis- 
patched, with one of Sutter's most intelligent and 
trustworthy Indians as interpreter and guide, up the 
south fork of the American River to select a mill-site. 
Precipitous hills, overhanging cliffs and deep canyons, 
along which a mountain stream dashes its wmding 
way, admit of but few available mill-sites. In due 
time Marshall reported favorably, stating that he had 
found a desirable location for a mill at a place called 
Coloma, about forty miles east of the Fort. The 
water power, he said, was fine, the timber abundant 



174 The Life and Times of 

and of an excellent quality, and the plant could be 
easily reached by a system of ridges extending along 
the foot-hills in nearly a direct line from the fort to 
the mill. 

Not until late in August was the contract for build- 
ing the mill entered into between Marshall and Sutter. 
This contract, which was drawn by Gen. John Bidwell, 
provided that Marshall should erect and run the mill 
and receive one-fourth of the lumber as compensation 
for his services, and Sutter was to furnish the building 
materials and all the supplies and board and pay the 
men employed. Heretofore white oak puncheon and 
lumber cut out of Digger-pine and oak with a whip- 
saw comprised the lumber used in the colony. Sutter 
had procured some second-hand lumber, of inferior 
quality, in his Russian purchase. 

Marshall so far completed the mill as to cut some 
lumber in January, 1848. By experimenting, it was 
found that the tail-race was insufficient to convey the 
water from the wheel. To remove this difficulty the 
water was turned into the race from the river (the 
water supplying said race being diverted from the 
river channel by means of a wing-dam) each night for 
the purpose of deepening its bed and cutting away its 
margin. 

One morning, about the 24th of January, while ex- 
amining the race, which was now empty, to ascertain 
what service the stream had rendered him through the 



General John A. Sutter. 



175 



night, he saw some yellow grains sticking in the crev- 
ices of the rocks in the bed of the tail-race, which, 
en examination, he fonnd to he some kind of metal, 
and it occurred to him that it might be gold. 




SUTTKR'S MILL. 

Late that night, in a heavy rain, he arrived at the 
fort, wet, bespattered with mud, and appearing very 
strangely. Sutter's surprise at his arrival on such a 
dark and stormy night at so late an hour w as increased 
when Alarshall said he wished to see him alone. 



376 The Life and Times of 

To gratify Marshall they repaired to a private room. 
Sutter knew not what to think of the singular behavior 
of Marshall, who now asked to have the door locked. 
Thinking it inexpedient to lock himself in a room a'one 
with him, he remained inert for awhile. On becoming 
convinced that they would not be disturbed, Marshall 
drew a pouch from his pocket and emptied half an 
ounce or more of the precious grains upon the table. 
The pieces of yellow metal thus exhibited, varied in 
sizes of which a grain of wheat would be an average. 
Sutter calmly asked him where he got it. Marshall 
said he picked it up in the tail-race at the saw-mill at 
Coloma ; that the laborers, whites and Indians, were 
picking it up, and that he believed it could be obtained 
in large quantities. Sutter, being incredulous, ex- 
pressed some doubt about its being gold. Marshall 
aglow with excitement, said he w^as certain it was 
gold. After a little search Sutter found among his 
stores a bottle of nitric acid, and submitted the metal 
to a chemical test, when it was found to be gold. How 
big* with importance was this embryo in the womb of 
the future! It was the aurora of a great commercial 
era. 

Marshall returned to Coloma that same night, mak- 
ing a horseback journey of eighty miles without an 
interval for sleep or recuperation, and more than half 
the distance was covered in a night made dark and 
dismal by overhanging clouds and a drizzling rain. He 



General John A. Sutter. 



// 



insisted that Sutter go with him to Coloma that night. 
:Sutter dechned, saying he must give orders to the men 
in his employ about the flour-mills under construction, 
and in the tannery and fields, but that he would go the 
next day. He accordingly set out for Coloma early 
the next morning. 

On reaching a flat within fifteen miles of the saw- 
mill, he saw something coming out of a thicket of 
chaparral (a shrub with a multitude of woody, brushy 
stems densely interwoven) on all fours, which he at 
first thought was a grizzly bear, but on closer inspec- 
tion found to be Marshall, who, in his anxiety and 
impatience, was returning from the mill to meet him. 

Instead of being elated over the gold find, Sutter 
was visited by dark forebodings. He had been to 
$25,000 expense on his flour-mills at Brighton and the 
race leading to them. (Brighton is on the American 
River, six miles east of the Fort.) Both mill and race 
were in an unfinished condition. He had expended 
$10,000 on his saw-mill at Coloma, which would even- 
tually remain idle should the gold fever set in, and the 
tannery and grain fields would suffer for want of 
laborers when a knowledge of the discovery became 
general. 

To guard against a calamity so wisely predicted, he 
modestly asked his employees to keep the matter a 
secret for six weeks, during which time he would pusli 
his unfinished Imsiness and shape things generally for 



1/8 . Tlic Life and Times of 

the great carnival which he saw was soon to follow. 
With his reqnest his men promised faithful compli- 
ance. 



THE SECRET OUT. 



The secret was too good to be long kept. True it is 
''murder will out." Sutter sent a teamster to the 
saw-mill with supplies. Hearing in some way while 
at the mill that gold had been found in tlie race, he 
managed to get some by trading tobacco for it. On 
returning to the fort he repaired to a neighboring 
store kept by Samuel Brannan and asked credit for a 
bottle of whiskey. As whiskey was scarce and the 
teamster slow pay, the merchant refused to let him 
have it without the cash. The teamster assured him he 
had plenty of money, exhibiting at the same time a 
quantity of gold dust. No ''pearls before swine" there. 
The astonished Mormon let him have the whiskey and 
asked him where he got the gold. At first he refused 
to tell. After imbibing quite freely of the liquor, its 
inspiring fumes getting into his combination, opened 
his safe. Losing restraint he became loquacious and 
told all about the discovery at the mill. 

The exciting tale spread like a scandal in high life, 
running up and down the coast like a tidal wave. Nor 
was the news long limited to the Pacific shore. It 
crossed the continent and traversed the seas, and in a 



General John A. Sutter. 179 

few months found its way to every quarter of the 
globe. 

SUTTER AFTER THE GOLD FIND. 



W^ith tlie discovery of gold, General Sutter's great 
misfortunes began. The first summer after the era 
established by the gold find, he was visited with severe 
losses. Husbandmen deserted the fields; the shops 
were without journeymen and the shuttle went to 
sleep in the loom. All the help about the kitchen and 
garden, except an Indian boy, were among the gold- 
seekers. The distillery was idle and hides partly tanned 
went to ruin for want of care. Less than one- 
half of a wheat crop, estimated at forty thousand 
bushels, was harvested, the rest being fed to, and tram- 
pled by half-famished teams of late immigrants who 
regarded the opportunity as a divine interposition. 
Their faith in divine mercy being so strong they dis- 
pensed with the formality of obtaining permission of 
its owner. Some of the more devout, after having 
utilized the field, were considerate enough to thank 
God for the blessing. 

The Indians, on whom Sutter had depended for har- 
vest hands and for help generally, had contracted the 
gold fever and gone to the scene of discovery. The 
ferry, hitherto in charge of trustworthy Indians who 
did good work and made faithful returns of the fer- 
riage-money, was converted, by practice, to the use of 



t8o The Life and Times of 

strangers who neither sought permission to use the 
ferry nor returned for the favor the small value of a 
second-hand "Thank you." This course was pursued 
as if consonant to the code of divine procedure. 

In his diary Sutter says : 

"May 19th. The great rush from San Francisco 
arrived at the Fort, all my friends and acquaintances 
filled up the houses and the whole fort, I had only one 
little Indian boy to make them roasted ripps etc., as 
my cooks left me like everybody else, the Merchants, 
Doctors, Lawyers, Sea-captains etc., all came up and 
did not know what to do, all was in confusion, all left 
their wives and families in San Francisco, and those 
which had none locked their doors, abandoned their 
bouses, offered them for sale cheap, a few hundred 
Dollars House and Lot (Lots which are worth now 
$100,000 and more) some of these men were just like 
greazy (crazy). Some of the most prudentest of the 
Whole, visited the mines and returned immediately and 
began to do a very profitable business, and vessels 
soon came from every where with all kind of Merchan- 
dise, the whole old thrash which was lying for yeais 
unhoused, on the Coasts of South & Central America, 
Mexico, Sand Wich Island etc., all found a good Mar- 
ket here." 

Sutter kept a doctor a great deal of the time, and 
people received gratis treatment. For awhile cathartic 
pills, of an inferior quality, were thirty dollars a box 
or one dollar apiece. 



Cciwral John A. Suffer. i8l 



THE GREAT CARNIVAL. 



When by incident the gravel-beds of Coloma dazzled 
the admiration of man with their golden splendor, the 
book of fate appeared to open at a propitious page. 
Wild, romantic, and fascniating were the scenes that 
followed. Imagination was never more active — never 
more fertile. Fancy breathed enchanting strains and 
the heart danced to her charming melody. The mind 
became a garden of thought, and philanthropy was its 
richest jewel. Imagination busied herself in construct- 
ing palatial dwellings. Nightingales allured by fra- 
grant exotics were being attuned to discourse special 
niAisic among the fountains where moonbeams play. 
The world is soon to take on new and more fairy-like 
c(jnditions. Everybody is to be happy. Halls of pleasure 
will be more inviting; their garlands being more va- 
ried — more fragrant ; and their music more voluptu- 
ous. Stars of descending night will appear in svreeter 
luster as their trembling beams speed away through 
beauteous fields of purple, of crimson and of gold. 
Full-throated birds of every clime, as though lately 
taught in the conservatory of nature, will vocalize 
meadow and grove with new and improved melodies. 
Even the cricket in the crevice of the ancestral hearth 



1 82 The Life and Times of 

is attuning his chirp to elegance of song. The katydid 
and whip-poor-will lend the twilight new charms and 
inspire the listener with ennobling thoughts of twi- 
light serenity. Companions are becoming dearer and 
offspring more lovely; the dimples of children being 
more frequent — more perfect. A-Iortgages will be lifted 
and steeds, of Arabian splendor, will prance over boule- 
vards before carriages that display the finest work of 
genius and of art. So fancy leads the imagination 
astray. 

The airy part of these new environments — new crea- 
tions — is aready completed. A strong desire to enjoy 
the fruition of these newly inspired hopes and to dress 
in habiliments of ease and honor, urge men, with ir- 
resistible force, into great undertakings and prepare 
them for enduring the hardships incident thereto. The 
stories of extracting the precious metal at Coloma 
were overdrawn and misleading in their inception; 
falling on responsive soil, as they evidently did, they 
grew like ''Jonah's gourd." 

Strange as it may appear, these exciting stories lost 
no quality, no substance, no charm in their rapid and 
frequent changes from country to country and from 
man to man all over the world. California with its 
possibilities became the absorbing topic of the day. It 
was discussed on the street, in social circles and in fact 
everywhere that refinement or intelligence prevailed. 
The different routes to California were looked up and 



General John A. Sutter. 183 



the expense, hardship and perils of each were studi- 
ously inquired into. 

Navigation companies in New York City, Boston 
and Liverpool lost little time in establishing steamship 
lines by both the Cape Horn and Panama routes to 
San Francisco. Every tub of a boat which, through 
the energy of crew and passengers could be kept afloat 
by bumping and bailing, was placed on a dry dock, 
where its keel was calked and daubed, and the boat, 
after being thus slimed over and newly named, was 
lined up as a new and stanch steamer of the Panama 
line. The Isthmus was crossed on burros or on foot, 
only to find on the other side exorbitant prices asked 
for the necessaries of life. 

Navigation companies, for the purpose of inducing 
travel, hired publishers to print and circulate fabulous 
reports about the quantity of gold actually extracted 
from the mines. Huge pieces of iron were gilded in 
imitation of gold, placed in showcases and windows 
along the streets of the great cities in America and 
Europe, and labeled ''From California." All this was 
done to catch the eye of the curious sightseer. They 
caught it. Newspaper men, to increase the sale of 
their wares, viewed and presented only the bright side 
of the conditions, until their sheets were aglow with 
paragraphs drawn from an excited imagination. These 
papers sold like frogs in a French market. Corpora- 
tions and individuals who were financiallv interested in 



:S4 T^he Life and Times of 

the commercial world contributed to keep the prevail- 
ing excitement alive. 

The public pulse indicated fever heat. The moving 
masses, agitated as they were, were quite willing to 
take great chances and they certainly took them. With- 
in six months from the time gold was found in the tail- 
race of Sutter's mill, a carnival was on which exceeded 
in magnitude anything of its kind the world had ever 
witnessed. A fairy tale had been told and its fascinat- 
ing mfluence was felt throughout Christendom. This, 
loo, was at a time when telegraphy was in its infnncy 
and telephones were unknown. The rage so exciting, 
so contagious and so far-reaching, gave rise to an in- 
voluntary commotion, which, in extent of range and 
the 'consequences entailed, shadows the records of all 
time. The great thoroughfares of the world were soon 
thronged with the curious, the venturesome and the 
determined. Souls who had hitherto recoiled at the 
thought of hazarding the dangers of the deep wxre now 
upon the furrowed bosom of the sea, plunging tow^ard 
uu unknown destiny. 

Plains hitherto unconquered, in fact unknown, save 
to the red man who with tomahawk in hand shad- 
owed the trail of the moving mass of fortune-seekers, 
were the scenes of caravans and of ''prairie schooners." 
In the commercial centers of the world was seen bag- 
gage labeled or tagged for Sutter's Fort, California. 
From the time gold was first found by Marshall in the 



General JuJui A. Sutter. 185 

tail-race of Sutter's mill down to 1852, more than 
one hundretl thousand people crossed the Plains, and 
enough more came by way of Cape Horn and P^.nama 
to people an empire. All nations were soon repre- 
sented here. Bustle and confusion followed. Mining 
camps, tented hamlets and flourishing villages burst 
into existence like the unfolding petals of an evening 
primrose. The imagination displayed by the writer of 
Alladin's Lamp hardly outclassed the realities em- 
braced in the tales of forty-nine. 

Thousands of men, unhoused, untentecl unknown, 
rolled themselves in blankets, took shelter uiider a 
cluster of stars, and quietly lay down to dream of their 
boyhood home, the sweet faces and forms of loved 
ones and the possibilities that awaited tbeni in this 
faraway land of strangers. The long, wearv and 
uncertain transit of the mail added a sombre complex- 
ion to the gloom of solitude and the immensity of 
space between them and all that was sacred to their 
n,emory. 

1 he hope of some day returning, with a recruited 
finance, to those who looked to them for guidance and 
support, battled bravely with the invading forces cf 
despondency. Some men were successful to their fidl- 
est expectations. Others less favorably starred and 
sore over misfortune, pined under the influence of 
disappointment and finally sank under a burden of 
care and sorrow into unknown graves, scattered here 



1 86 The Life and Times of 

and there all over the gold-bearing regions of the 
Western shore. 

California was peopled with no special class ot so- 
ciety. Every grade of human kind was found here, 
from the erudite, the elegant, the wise, and the good, 
down through every intermediate caste, to the contemp- 
tible scum of God's creation, desperate characters, for 
whom the hangman, in the land they had blest by leav- 
ing it, was sighing, and who sought to lose their iden- 
tity amidst this commingling of nationalities. 

A man was nowhere safe, unless he was cautious and 
on his guard. But the better class, greatly outnumber- 
ing the others, came to the front as the security of 
rights and the good of the commonwealth demanded. 
Scoundrels, of both proud and humble birth, who 
played their "tricks" on the unwary, were promptly 
dealt with. It became quite a fad for men to die with 
their boots on or ''erect without touching bottom." 
Rather an awkward way of ''going out." 

"In the days of old, the days of gold" the gentle 
sex were left at home, the journey being too long and 
hazardous, and the sunshine and comforts of life at 
the journey's end too uncertain to encourage thoughts 
of embarking them in the enterprise. As a consequence 
of these kindly and prudent conclusions, a dearth of 
women prevailed in California. 

In 1850, an average-looking, well-favored young 
woman, who performed with cleverness on a guitar 



General John A. Sutter. 187 

or piano or could sing a song fairly well, could com- 
mand one hundred dollars per month, to just stop at a 
hotel to draw and entertain custom. One woman now 
living in Sacramento and who is still amiable and ac- 
complished, although in the twilight of life, declined 
that salary. Women were, as they are yet, quite a curi- 
osity. They were really at a premium. (On account 
of their novelty, I suppose.) Some time before the 
gold discovery at Coloma, some men in going from 
Folsom to Mormon Island, discovered in the road 
some tracks made by a woman. This discovery was so 
exhilarating to them, that they swung their hats over 
their heads and gave three rousing cheers. They built a 
fence around the tracks, posted a notice on a tree near 
by, referring to them, and remained there telling stories 
and singing songs till a late hour at night. Being 
denied the pleasure of seeing a woman, they enjoyed 
seeing her tracks. 

Rufus Butterfield Esq., a distinguished gentleman 
who was long a resident of Sacramento, informed 
me that he was merchandising in Nevada County, 
California, about this time, and being called to ''Hang- 
town" (Placerville) on some business, left his store 
unlocked while he was gone. He posted in a conspicu- 
ous place on his store the following notice : ''I expect 
to be absent a day or two, possibly longer, during 
which time you are instructed to help yourselves to 
what you need. You will find gold dust in a tin box on 



1 88 TJic Life and Times of 

a shelf to make change." So far as honesty is con- 
cerned society was at its best. A man could not be 
hired to steal. He knew he would "stretch hemp" if 
caught at it or if convicted of it. 

"New Helvetia, March ly, 1848. 
Mr. Jared Sheldon on Cosumnes River. 

Dear Sir : 

I wish to know when I can send a v/agon for the 
remaining 14 fanegas ground into flour. I wish you 
could do it immediately as we are entirely out of flour. 

You consider my pay not so good as Mr. (^ordna^b 
who get it ground at 50 Cents per fanega and you 
charge me One Dollar per fanega. Every thing v.^hich 
I have to dispose of, and which I sell, is all understood 
as Cash price, because it is no more like formerly 
trade and Cash price. I spoke with Mr. Daylor about 
the leather, so soon as the Launch arrive I shall have 
some ready for you, and likewise Sugar, Coffe & other 
articles. Hourly I look for the Launch, she cannot 
be far, but she have no wind. 

I remain respectfully, 

Yours trul}' 
J. A. Sutter. 
Copied, April loth, 1904. 



General John A. Sutter. 



J. A. SUTTER CONVEYS ESTATE TO J. A. SUTTER, JR. 



In the montli of October, 1848, Captain Sutter ccnv 
veyed his property, real and personal, to his son J. A. 
Sutter Jr. In his Russian purchase, Sutter contracted 
to pay for the property, as has been shown on a former 
page, in annual installments. Reverses having visit- 
ed him through the lawlessness of others during the 
conquest of California and subsequently, he was 
unable to free himself from these obligations. To 
recover, the governor of the Russian province 
of Alaska threatened to institute proceedings 
against him, which would have wronged other credi- 
tors and sacrificed needlessly a vast amount of prop- 
erty. \\'ith no other view than to avert such a calam- 
ity, did Sutter transfer his property to his son. Peter 
H. Burnett, a distinguished gentleman and subse- 
quently governor of California, who acted as Sutter's 
attorney in settling the business, says John A. Sutter, 
Jr., was requested by his father to pay all dues at the 
earliest moment possible. Burnett says in his history 
that there was no design to defraud the creditors; but 
on the contrary, time proved that the course pursued 
was the wisest and most just, under the circumstances, 
to all the creditors. 

Burnett further says : ''By the middle of August. 



190 The Life and Times of 

1849, the last debt that ever came to my knowledge 
had been paid.'* 



THE FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. 



The First Constitutional Convention met in Colton 
Hall in Monterey, September i, 1849, ^^^ adjourned 
October 13. The constitution framed by this conven- 
tion was adopted by the people at the election of 
November 13, 1849. Bennet Riley was at the time 
military governor of the Territory. This constitu- 
tion was the instrument through which California 
became a State. The convention contained some 
remarkable men, whose work was accomplished 
rapidly, effectively and without any preliminary 
draft of any kind as a guide. 

General John A. Sutter was a member of the con- 
vention and his closing address to the military gover- 
nor. General Riley, was as follows : 

''General, I have been appointed by the delegates 
elected by the people of California to form a constitu- 
tion, to address you in their names and in behalf of the 
whole people of California and express the thanks of 
the convention for the aid and co-operation they have 
received from you in the responsible duty of creating a 
State government. And, Sir, the convention, as you 
will perceive from the official records, duly appreciates 
the great and important services you have rendered to 



General John A. Sntfer. 191 

our common country, and especially to the people of 
California, and entertains the belief that you will re- 
ceive from the whole people of the United States when 
you retire from your duties here that verdict so grate- 
ful to the heart of every patriot : 'Well done, thou good 
and faithful servant.' " 



NOTICE TO SQUATTERS. 



Some of the emigrants who came to California in 
1849 disregarded Sutter's rights to the extent of pitch- 
ing tents and even building houses on his land with- 
out his permission. To restrain such lawlessness he 
caused to be published in the Placerville Times of May 
5, 1849, ^1^^ following notice to squatters: 

''All persons are hereby cautioned not to settle, with- 
out my permission, on any land in this Territory. Said 
land is bounded as follows: Commencing on the 
North, in latitude thirty-nine degrees, thirty-three min- 
utes and forty-five seconds, at a point on the East 
bank of the Sacramento River, running thence East 
three leagues beyond Feather River; thence South to 
latitude thirty-eight degrees, forty-one minutes and 
thirty-two seconds; thence West to said Sacramento 
River; thence up and along the course of the said 
Sacramento River to the place of beginning, except- 
ing a certain tract, included in the above, lying on the 
East side of the said Sacramento River; bounded on 



192 The Life and Times of 

the North by latitude thirty-nine degrees, one minute 
and forty-five seconds, and on the South by the Amer- 
ican Fork, granted by the Republic of Mexico to one 
Elias Grimes." 

"John A. Sutter, Jr." 



SQUATTER RIOTS. 



The rapid and incessant influx of fortune-seekers 
from all parts of the world gave birth in New Helve- 
tia to a city of tents. Lumber was scarce and expen- 
sive, being v$500 per thousand at Sutter's mill. There 
were barely houses enough in the settlement to accom- 
modate those living there when the tidal wave of 
human beings rolled over the Sacramento Valley. Ere 
the lapse of many months after the gold find, Sutter's 
land title was questioned ; generally, however, by 
people who were ignorant of the facts in the case or 
of the law relating to them. 

vSam Brannan, a vigorous, active and able man, gave 
in the squatter riots all the force of his genius to the 
support of Sutter. 

As early as 1850, a squatters' association was 
formed with its headquarters in Sacramento ; and of 
course an anti-squatters' association was soon organ- 
ized in opposition. The word squatter, as used here, 
is construed to mean one who settled, or claimed the 



General John A. Sutter. 193 

right to settle, on the lands embraced in Sutter's pos- 
sessions, against his consent. Those holding lands ac- 
quired from Sutter resolved to protect them even 
though it be at some hazard. The disturbance began 
to assume a serious character some time in '49 and 
continued to increase in violence until litigation and 
riot ensued. Charles Robinson built a house on a lot 
that H. A. Schoolcraft claimed to own. The latter 
petitioned the city council to remove it. They did so. 
Robinson then sued the council and v/as defeated. 
On the loth of May, 1850, Jno. P. Rogers and De- 
witt J. Burnett commenced action against Jno. T. Mad- 
den under the statute providing for ''Unlawful entries 
and detainers." The case was tried in the recorder's 
court before- B. F. Washington presiding, who re- 
turned a judgment against the defendant. The case 
was appealed to the county court, wdiere the decision 
of the court below was affirmed. 



194 ^^^^ ^^f^ (^^^d Times of 



THE SQUATTER PROCLAMATION. 



"To the people of Sacramento City : 

"It is well known that a few individuals have seized 
upon nearly all the arable public lands in this county, 
and the following are some of the means they have 
resorted to, in order to retain the property thus taken : 

"First — They have used force and torn down the 
buildings of the settlers, and driven them from their 
homes by riotous mobs. 

"Second — They have used threats of violence, even 
to the taking of life, if the occupant or settler persisted 
in defending his property, and thus extorted from the 
timid their rightful possessions. 

"Third — They have passed or procured the passage 
of certain laws in the so-called legislature of Califor- 
nia, for the purpose, as their attorneys affirm, of pro- 
tecting themselves and removing the settlers from the 
land they may occupy whether right or wrong, — thus 
settling the question of title in an assumed legislative 
body, which question can alone be settled by the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. 

"Fourth — Under said legislative regulations, by 
them called laws, they have continually harassed the 
settler with suits, and in many instances compelled him 
to abandon his home for want of means to pay the 



General John A. Sutter. 195 

costs of their courts. Many others have paid these 
costs with the hope of carrying their cause through 
these so-called courts to the proper tribunal for final 
decision, viz: The Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

''But these hopes were vain, for Judge Willis, so 
called, has decided that from his decision there is no 
appeal. 

''And now, inasmuch as the so-called legislature is 
not recognized by Congress, and their rules and regu- 
lations not approved, and are therefore of no binding 
force upon the citizens of the United States, but sim- 
ply advisory, and inasmuch as the so-called law of 
'forcible entry and detainer' if passed for the pur- 
pose affirmed by their council, namely, to drive off 
settlers, with or without title, is unconstitutional, and 
would be in any State; the people in this community 
called settlers, and others who are friends of justice 
and humanity, in consideration of the above, have de- 
termined to disregard all decisions of our courts in 
land cases and all summons or executions by the 
sheriff, constable, or other officer of the present 
county or city touching this matter. They will regard 
the said officers as private citizens, as in the eyes of 
the constitution they are, and hold them accountable 
accordingly. And, moreover, if there is no other ap- 
peal from Judge Willis, the settlers and others, on 
the first show of violence to their persons or property, 



196 The Life and Times of 

either by the sheriff or other person, under color of 
any execution or writ of restitution, based on any judg- 
ment or decree of any court in this county, in an ac- 
tion to recover possession of land, have deliberately re- 
solved to appeal to arms and protect their sacred rights, 
if need be, with their lives. 

''Should such be rendered necessary by the acts of 
the sheriff or others, the settlers will be governed by 
m.artial law. All property, and the persons of such as 
do not engage in the contest, will be sacredly regarded 
and protected by them, whether landholders or other- 
wise, but the property and lives of those v\^ho take the 
field against them will share the fate of war." 

This card of the squatters increased the excitement 
in the community to such an intensity as to make col- 
lision and bloodshed inevitable. The card was pro- 
nounced to be a declaration of civil w^ar and enlisted 
many people in the contest against the scjuatters whc 
had previously favored them by a sort of passive ap- 
probation. On the nth of August, the scfuatters held 
a meeting upon the levee in Sacramento, which we 
find thus reported by the Transcript, of August 12th, 
1S50. 

"THE SQUATTER MEETING ON THE LEVEE." 

"Resistance of Law Promulgated — Defence of 
Squatters' Rights to Death — Intense Excitement. 

''The meeting of the Squatters, at the foot of J 
street, on Saturday evening was largely attended. The 



General John A. Suffer. 197 

proceedings were characterized by great excitement, 
with a mixture of mirth and sparkling wit, which made 
the meeting decidedly 'rich and racy.' When we ar- 
rived, Dr. Robinson, chairman of the meeting, was 
reading a series of resolutions, declarative of the sen- 
timents of the Squatters. Among others, was a reso- 
lution to resist decisions made by Judge Willis, of 
the County Court. 

"A motion was adopted that the resolutions be tak- 
en up separately. At this stage of the proceedings, loud 
calls were made for different speakers — McKune, Kew- 
en, Brannan, Barton, Lee, McClatchy, etc. 

"Mr. McKune appeared on the stand, and had pro- 
ceeded about three-quarters of an hour, in an exposi- 
tion of the Sutter title and defence of the Squatters, 
wdien he was interrupted by loud cries for 'a new 
speaker,' 'Brannan, Kewen,' &c. 

"The chairman at length succeeded in restoring or- 
der, assuring the audience that Mr. Brannan should be 
heard when Mr. McKune closed. 

"During his speech, Mr. McKune made a statement 
in regard to Mr. Sutter's place of residence, that if 
he had one any more than another it was at Hock Farm 
and not at the Fort, which was promptly pronounced 
'false' by Mr. Brannan. This renewed the commo- 
tion, and amidst a goodly sprinkling of 'noise and con- 
fusion,' Mr. McKune had retired. 

"The cries for different speakers were both 'loud 



198 The Life and Times of 

and long.' Mr. Brannan and Judge Wilson took the 
stand. The latter stated he had just returned to the 
city with a complete translation of the Mexican laws 
in relation to land titles, and proceeded to show that 
the Squatters were vastly mistaken in regard to one or 
two of the arguments they used in support of their 
rights and adverse to the validity of Capt. Sutter's 
title. 

"Disorder again reigned supreme, until Mr. Bran- 
nan had gotten fully under headway. Mr. B. pro- 
ceeded to show that he was justifiable in pronouncing 
the statement made by Mr. McKune as being 'false, 
untrue.' Mr. B. also adverted to his agency in re- 
m.oving a Squatter from his land, 'Land that had been 
paid for, with money he had earned by hard work.' 

"Col. E. J. Kewen was loudly called for. After 
considerable tumult, that gentleman took the stand 
and was proceeding, when he was interrupted by cries 
of 'Who's the speaker?' 'Give us your name?' 'My 
name,' said Col. K., 'is Ed Kewen, a man wdio is n^t 
afraid to face any populace, or give expression to the 
honest convictions of his heart at any time, or under 
any circumstances.' 'Are you a land-holder?' 'Yes, I 
have a few acres of land, which I have honestly ac- 
quired — land which I bought and paid for.' Col. K. 
remarked that many of those who were now here 
claiming land, had been deluded by designing persons, 
— that at heart they were honest men; and alluded to 



General John A. Sutter. 199 

the general integrity of the Anglo-Saxon race. Whilst 
indulging in this strain, he was interrupted with cries 
of 'soft soap.' 'Yes,' replied the speaker, 'I believe 
there is a little too much LIE in it, and I will for- 
bear.' Col. K. referred to the decision of Judge Wil- 
lis, and controverted the position assumed by Mr. Mc- 
Kune. His remarks were received with plaudits on 
one side and disapprobation on the other. 

*'Dr. Robinson, the chairman, asked leave to ad- 
dress the meeting; at the same time Mr. Queen ap- 
plied for a similar favor. Mr. Queen was denied the 
privilege, whereupon he turned to the assemblage, and 
put the question for permission for the chair, which 
was also refused. (Roars of laughter.) 

''Here there was a perfect 'war of words' and 
bandying of set phrases between the Squatters and 
others. The reading of the resolutions was loudly 
called for, when Dr. Robinson proceeded to read the 
first, and then delivered a speech of considerable length 
in defence of the resolutions. Dr. R. closed with the 
remark, that, as for himself, he meant to defend the 
property he had settled upon, at all hazards." 

Madden retained possession of his premises for 
some time, by the defence of members of the associa- 
tion. The house itself became a sort of garrison for 
the association, containing a variety of muskets, pis- 
tols, and some very antiquated sabres and swords. 
The sheriff, in his endeavors to execute the writ of 



200 The Life and Times of 

restitution, discovered a number of individuals, whom 
he knew, among the party resisting his authority, and 
reported the names of Charles Robinson, and others, 
and warrants for their arrest were issued by Justi:e 
Sackett. The excitement continued to increase and 
hasty and unwarrantable acts were committed on both 
sides for several days. On the morning and through 
the day of the 14th, a crisis arrived, which can be best 
appreciated by a republication of the incidents as then 
recorded by the journals : 

(From the Daily Times of August 15, 1850.) 
"YESTERDAY." 
"At 2 o'clock a body of Squatters, numbering about 
forty, proceeded to the foot of I Street, on the Levee, 
and undertook to regain possession of a lot of ground, 
which had been lately in the occupation of one of 
their party. They were fully armed, and a general 
understanding prevailed that their object included the 
liberation of the two men committed the day before to 
the prison ship, upon the charge of being concerned in 
a riotous assemblage on the morning of the 12th, for 
the purpose of forcibly resisting the process of law. 
After the displacement of some of the lumber upon 
the ground, the party of Squatters were deterred from 
proceeding further. The Mayor having meantmie re- 
quested all good citizens to aid in suppressing the 
threatened riot, very large numbers had gathered about 
the spot, — several citizens arrived, proceeded also to 



General John A. Sutter. 201 

the prison ship, but no demonstration was made in 
that direction. 

*'The Squatters retreated in martial order, and 
passed up I Street to Third, thence to J and up to 
Fourth, followed by a crowd of persons. They were 
here met by the Mayor, who ordered them to^ deliver 
up their arms and disperse. This they refused to do, 
3nd immediately several shots were fired at him, four 
of which took effect. He fell from his horse, and was 
carried to his residence, dangerously if not mortally 
wounded. Mr. J. W. Woodland, who, unarmed, stood 
near the Mayor at the time, received a shot in the 
groin, which he survived but a few moments. A man, 
n.amed Jesse Morgan, said to be from Millersville, 
Ohio, lately arrived, and who was seen to aim at the 
Mayor, next fell dead, from the effects of a ball which 
passed through his neck. Mr. James Harper was very 
severely wounded in supporting the Sheriff. It is 
difficult to give an exact detail of the terrible incidents 
which followed in such rapid succession. It appeared, 
from an examination before the Coroner, that the par- 
ty of Scjuatters drew up in regular order, on arriving 
at the corner of Fourth Street, and that the Sheriff 
was several times fired upon before he displayed any 
weapons. Testimony was also given as to the person 
who was seen to fire upon Mr. Woodland. The mount- 
ed leader of the Squatters, an Irishman by the name 
of Maloney, had his horse shot under him; he endeav- 



202 The Life and Times of 

ored to escape, was pursued a short distance up an 
alley and shot through the head, falling dead. Dr. 
Robinson, one of the armed party under his command, 
was wounded in the low^er part of his body. Mr. Hale 
of the firm of Crowell, Hale & Co., was slightly 
wounded in the leg. A young boy, son of Mr. Rogers, 
was also wounded. We have heard of several others, 
but are not assured of the correctness of the reports. 
Upon the oath of several gentlemen, that they saw Mr. 
Robinson deliberately aim at the Mayor, he was ar- 
rested and placed in confinement. An Irishman, 
named Caulfield, accused of a similar act with regard 
to both the Mayor and Mr. Woodland, was arrested 
late in tlie afternoon. 

''After these terrible scenes, which occupied less 
thiie than we have employed to describe them, had 
passed, a meeting of the Council was held, the pro- 
ceedings of which appear in another column. The 
citizens gathered at the corner of Second and J streets, 
and other places throughout the city, and proceeded to 
organize in parties to prevent further outrage. A body 
of mounted men under the command of the Sheriff 
hearing the report that the Squatters were reinforcing 
at the Fort, proceeded thither. The lawless mob were 
nowhere to be found; scouts were dispatched in all 
directions, but no trace of them could be discovered; 
meanwhile several other parties had formed into rank, 
and proceeded to different parts of the city, establish- 



General John A. Sutter. 203 

ing rendezvous at various points. Brigadier-Gensral 
Winn issued a proclamation, declaring the city under 
martial law, and ordering all law-abiding citizens to 
form themselves into volunteer companies, and report 
their organization at headquarters as soon as possible. 
At evening, quiet was fully restored throughout the 
city. Lieutenant Governor McDougal, who left upon 
the Senator, and expects to meet the Gold Hunter, will 
bring up this morning a detachment of troops from 
Benicia. An extraordinary police force of 500 was 
summoned for duty during the night." 

By the minutes of the Council, we find that B. F. 
Washington was appointed Marshal, and Capt. J. 
Sherwood, Assistant, to whom all persons desirous of 
making arrests were requested to apply for authority 
and aid. 

(From the Daily Times of August 16, 1850.) 

''Another day of gloom arrives in the dread succes- 
sion which we are compelled to record. Scarcely had 
the funeral rites been rendered to one victim, ere a 
second is immolated upon the sacred altar of duty. The 
Sheriff of this county, Joseph McKinney, was killed 
last evening. He had proceeded to Brigliton in com- 
pany with a party of about twenty, to make arrests 
of persons whom he had been advised were concerned 
in the riotous outrages of the 14th. On reaching the 
Pavilion, and being assured that the parties sought 
for were at the hotel of one Allen in the neighbor- 



204 ^^^^ ^'/^ ^^^^ Times of 

hood, it was arranged that Mr. McDowell, of Mormon 
Island, well known at the house, should proceed there, 
make observations and return. They did not wait 
for him, however, but soon after rode up trv the door, 
when the Sheriff demanded of Allen that he and the 
others should surrender themselves. They refused to 
do this, and immediately several shots were fired, 
mortally wounding Mr. McKinney. He expired in a 
few moments. Meanwhile, several of those with him 
had entered the bar-room, where about a dozen Squat- 
ters were assembled. Three of the latter were killed 
on the spot. Allen escaped, though wounded. Three 
prisoners were taken and brought into town. We have 
heard that a fourth and a negro Squatter were also 
taken. 

"At the time the first report of these proceedings 
reached the city, the Council was in session. Messrs. 
Tweed and Spalding were appointed to unite with 
Capt. Sherw^ood in taking measures to meet the emer- 
gency. Numbers of the citizens left immediately for 
the scene of disturbance. The greatest commotion 
pervaded the city, and the most contradictory and ex- 
aggerated rumors were circulated. It was feared that 
in the excitement, the protection of the city would be 
neglected. In the course of a few hours the facts 
became known, and quiet was restored. Messengers 
continued to arrive throughout the night. A strict 
patrol was kept in the vicinity of Brighton and of this 



General John A. Sutter. 205 

city. A man was arrested by Capt. Sherwood, l^eing 
identified by two or three persons as imphcated in the 
riot of the 14th. We are denied room for comment. 
But a few hours ago, we had the satisfaction to give a 
just tribute of appreciation to the gallant conduct of 
the officer whose sacrifice we now relate. Every 
member of our community feels in his own person the 
enormity of the crime which has been committed 
against all the social and political rights prized by our 
countrymen. A similar outrage is unprecedented in the 
history of the American people, and every interest of 
this community demands that the retribution should be 
summary and complete." 



DISPATCH TO GEN. WINN. 



The following is the dispatch sent to Gen. Winn by 
Governor Burnett, when he heard of the troubles ai 
Sacramento : 

''San Jose, August 15, 1850. 
"To Brig. Gen. A. M. Winn, Second Brigade, First 

Division, California Militia : 

"Sir, — It having been made to appear to me, that 
there is a riotous and unlawful assembly, with intent 
to commit a felony, at Sacramento City, in Sacra- 
mento county, you will forthwith order out the whole 
of your command, to appear at Sacramento City, on 
the 1 6th day of August, 1850, or as soon thereafter as 



2o6 The Life and Times of 

practicable; and you will take command of the same, 
and give all the aid in your power to the civil authori- 
ties, in suppressing violence and enforcing the laws. 
Should the force ordered out not be sufficient, you will 
forthwith inform me accordingly. 

"Your obedient servant, 

'Teter H. Burnett, 
''Governor of California and Commander-in-Chief." 
On the morning of the i6th, twO' military companies 
arrived by the steamer Senator, from San Francisco, 
under command of Captains Howard and McCormick, 
accompanied by Col. J. W. Geary, Mayor, who placed 
themselves under command of Gen. Winn, who trans- 
mitted to the Common Council the following letter : 
"Brigade Headquarters, August 17, 1850. 
''To the Acting Mayor, and Common Council of Sac- 
ramento City : 

"I have the honor to inform you that the Second 
Brigade, First Division, California Militia, is now in 
readiness to give aid to the civil authorities in sup- 
pressing violence and enforcing law. 

"Any orders emanating from your Board shall be 
promptly attended to. 

"With high respect, I subscribe myself your obedient 
servant, 

"A. M. Winn, Brig. Gen. 
"By E. J. C. Kewen, 
"Asst. Adj. Gen., 2d Brig.. 
1st Div., California Militia." 



General John A. Sutter. 207 

The Council then made the following reply : 
"Council Chamber, 
''Sacramento City, August 17, 1850. 

"Sir: Your communication of this date is received, 
notifying me of the readiness of the Second Brigade, 
First Division, California Militia, under your com- 
mand, to aid the civil authorities in suppressing vio- 
lence and enforcing law; and stating that any order 
emanating from this Board shall be promptly attended 
to. In reply, 1 would state, that immediately after the 
unexpected riot of the 14th instant, a police force of 
five hundred men was authorized to be raised, and 
B. F. Washington, Esq., appointed as marshal to take 
command, aided by Capt. J. Sherwood. 

''Thus far, this force has proven itself capable of 
sustaining our laws and protecting the property of our 
citizens without resort to military aid, and from all 
the information which we now possess there is no great 
probability of such aid being needed. 

"Should any emergency arise requiring it, rest as- 
sured we shall avail ourselves of your kind offer. 

"By order of the Board. 

"D. Strong, 
"President of the Common Council and 
Acting Mayor." 



2o8' The Life and Times of 

STRONG'S PROCLAMATION. 



"Fellow Citizens : Peace, order and quietness have 
re-assumed their sway. Scouts have returned, after 
Gcouring the neighborhood, and report the absence of 
any appearance of hostilities. A heavy guard is con- 
stantly maintained, and the city is safe from an 
attack. Reliable information has been received from 
the mines, assuring us of a falsity of the rumors of 
assemblages to resist the law. An observance of the 
ordinance against discharging firearms in the city is 
commanded. Especially it is necessary at this time, 
after nightfall. Officers on duty will attend to this. 
No further disturbance is apprehended, but our vigi- 
lance must not be relaxed. 

"D. Strong, 
"President of the Common Council and 
Acting Mayor. 
"August 19, 1850." 



RESTORING OF QUIET. 



(From the Transcript of August 19, 1850.) 
"We are happy to see at last the dawning of a calmer 
state of things in our midst. Under the circumstances, 
the excitement of the past few days was perhaps un- 
avoidable. It is a terrible step for men to take, to rise 
in armed opposition to the laws and constitution of 



General John A. Sutter. 209 

the State in which they reside. But when such a step 
is taken, it must be promptly met. 

"Our citizens have aroused with determination, they 
have rushed in multitudes to the side of law and au- 
thority. The l)low has been struck. The armed oppo- 
sition has been crushed. The rioters are scattered, 
and the authority of our government is still maintained- 
In addition, twO' telling moral blows have been struck, 
whose effect will last long in our community. We al- 
lude to the funerals of Mr. Woodland and of Mr. Mc- 
Kinney. It almost seemed as if the entire city rose to 
perform over them the last duties which were left to 
be performed. 

**At present all is quiet in our midst. And we trust 
that until there is need of further excitement, our fel- 
low citizens will do wiiat lies in their power to allay 
the turmoil which has jostled our city from its course 
of prosperity. 

''The remote evils resulting from such an excitement 
as we have passed through, are much to be deplored, 
and should be avoided if it is within the range of possi- 
bility. The utter stagnation of all business, the ces- 
sation of works of pul)lic improvement, the stop placed 
upon private works of enterprise, the forgetfulness of 
the thousand and one subjects which should demand 
the im.mediate attention of the public, these all call 
upon us to allay the excitement no longer called for, 
and to resume our former condition of quiet. 



2IO The Life and Times of 

*'The death of Capt. Woodland was the result of an 
exposure that was prompted by one of the nohlest im- 
pulses of the human heart. He was walking up the 
street and near the corner of J and Fourth in com- 
pany with a friend of ours, when the Squatters ranged 
themselves diagonally across Fourth with their gtms 
presented towards the approaching Mayor and his 
party. The moment he saw the menacing attitude of 
these men he exclaimed to this individual, 'Oh it's too 
bad for these men to take such a stand, for they will 
certainly be shot down and I will go up and advise 
them.' In an attempt to execute this intention he 
stepped forward but a couple of steps when he re- 
ceived a ball that killed him almost instantly." 

Having myself been well acquainted with some 
parties who joined the Squatters and who were known 
to me to be honorable men — men of noble and neigh- 
borly traits of character, I have been shocked at their 
course in this affair. 

From remote ages man has been, as he still is, in- 
clined to suspect those who rank him in wealth and pre- 
ferment. This, we think, was clearly evidenced in this 
era, by the actions of the squatter riots above dis- 
cussed. Being envious of Sutter, who owned by hon- 
est acquisition a territory nearly as large as his father- 
land, they sought to bridge the chasm between him 
and them by building the approaches out of his own 
property. They questioned his ownership and sougnt 



General John A. Sutter 



211 



by brute force to utilize his possessions against his 
will. Some of the Squatters were, undoubtedly, act- 
uated by conscientious motives; being led astray by 
the overpowering influence of designing men. The 
moral obliquity of the leaders in this trouble, it occurs 
to me, is pronounced. 

GENERAL SUTTER'S LOSSES. 



I now have the painful task of outlining some of 
the losses that reduced this good man to beggary. In 
order to make myself understood I will repeat in this 
episode some things incidentally mentioued on another 
page in this work. Omitting many of the lesser wrongs 
Sutter sustained, I shall endeavor to notice with much 
brevity some of the greater calamities which shad- 
owed the pathway of his declining years. 

Some state or states in the Union had the good for- 
tune to disgorge five freebooters, who landed in Cali- 
fornia and in the winter of '49"' 5° formed a company 
and hibernated near Marysville on an island in the 
Sacramento River. Armed with rifles and equipped 
with a good boat, a butcher's outfit and some helpers, 
they carried on an extensive business in the slaughter- 
ing of animals and the selling of meats ; their princi- 
pal market was Sacramento City. In the spring they 
had a net dividend of $6o,ooo, and every animal 
slaughtered was si.leii frcni (_;ei;eral Sutter. 



212 The Life and Times of 

While this work was going on in this rogues' meat- 
market, the sheriff and his posse went to arrest the 
offenders ; but as their rendezvous was on an island, 
and they were desperate men and all well armed, the 
officer, believing that to encounter them would be fatal 
to him and some of his men, and not being sanguine of 
success, very prudently withdrew from the field leaving 
the party to pursue their illicit business. The arrest 
of those thieves was several times undertaken, with 
similar results. 

One hundred horses and two thousand dollars' 
worth of swine wxre stolen from -Sutter during the 
same winter. The horses w^ere driven tO' Oregon and 
the swine were slaughtered and sold in the markets; 
Sacramento receiving more than one half of the gross 
sales. Some of the poorest of the stolen horses were 
recovered. Sutter also lost heavily in sheep which 
were stolen from him the same winter. 

This brings us to the controversy in the Sutter land 
cases the facts concerning which are very little known 
to the public generally, and which terminated in the 
financial ruin of the great pioneer. 

Some time in July, 1839, Sutter and Juan B. Al- 
varado, the governor of the province of California, en- 
tered into an agreement the provisions of which were 
substantially as follows : Sutter was to settle with his 
colony upon any unoccupied land in northern Califor- 
nia and after a year's occupancy report to Alvarado, 



General John A. Sutter. 213 

naturalize to the government of Mexico, and receive 
a land grant of eleven square leagues. Accordingly 
on the 1 2th day of August, 1839, he settled upon a 
tract of land which he named New Helvetia in honor 
of Switzerland. This was the way Mexico disposed of 
much of her public domain and was the price she asked 
for it. As small as this price appears it is all the land 
was worth. Land in unsettled districts only could be 
so obtained. 

The soil was excellent and the climate desirable, 
but these grants at the time Sutter reached California 
must be obtained to lands remote from commercial 
points and in sections of the country that were infested 
by warlike, thieving" and treacherous tribes of In- 
dians. These lands were not measured by the acre, but 
by the square league, about ten of them being an 
average grant. Nor were the boundaries as well estab- 
lished as they are where land is more valuable and 
where more importance attaches to the ownership ot 
the land. 

But the discovery of gold at Coloma J.nd the pour- 
ing in of an interminable stream of immigrants im- 
mediately changed the valuation of land in California 
from nominal to real and intrinsic. 

In the petition to Alvarado for the grant of New 
Helvetia the tule lands (low and periodically over- 
flowed lands which were valueless until reclaimed) 
were excluded from the eleven leagues petitioned for. 



214 ^^'^ ^'/^ ^^id Times of 

A survey, field notes and a map made by John J. Vio- 
get, a competent surveyor, accompanied the petition 
and formed a part of it. The petition called for two 
square leagues lying south of the ''Rio de los Ameri- 
canos," the other parcel of nine leagues being divided 
by the Rio de las Plumas ; and a tract of several miles 
lying between the two parcels. 

In 1844, Micheltorena having been appointed gover- 
nor of California, Sutter petitioned him for a grant of 
twenty-two square leagues. This grant was issued bv 
Micheltorena and the title was confirmed by the gov- 
ernment of Mexico. 

In 1 85 1 Congress created a board of commissioner.^ 
whose duty it was to inquire after the validity of land 
grants in New Mexico and California and to adjust 
disputed claims. This commission was clothed with 
authority to summon whomsoever it would and witli 
full power to enforce attendance. To this august body 
claims were presented for adjudication. The land 
grants having been issued in the Spanish language a 
corps of interpreters formed a part of the board. 

As it was well known at this time that the precious 
metals were mixed with the soil and that tne great 
tide of immigration then streaming into Calitornia 
from all countries would enhance the value of these 
fertile lands, those who claimed them sought to quiet 
title where question had been raised. To this end Sut- 
ter, in 1852, presented his claims to this board of com- 



General John A. Sutter. 215 

niissioners. After a deliberate investigation the board, 
as I have described it, found Sutter's grants to be per- 
fect, without cloud or defect, and confirmed them 
under the provisions of the treaty between the 
United States and Mexico. The squatters then 
appealed to the United States District Court for 
the northern district of California, where the de- 
cision of the commissioners was confirmed. The 
counsel for the squatters then appealed both cases to 
the Supreme Court of the United States at Washing- 
ton. In 1864 this court confirmed the eleven-league 
grant, but reversed the decision with reference to the 
twenty-two league grants. 

The Supreme Court, in its decision, claimed that the 
difficulties in which the Sutter cases were involved, 
were increased by the presence of settlers on his grants. 
If the grant of twenty-two square leagues of land by 
the Mexican government, through its provincial gov- 
ernor, Micheltorena, was conveyed to Sutter in a man- 
ner satisfactory to Mexico and the conveyance was 
duly confirmed by her, by what process a squatter ob- 
tained color of title not conveyed by Sutter or founded 
in easement is not clear to an average mind, unless the 
dishonesty of courts is premised. 

The United States Supreme Court questioned the 
authority of Micheltorena to issue the twenty-two 
league grant. It was issued after the insurgents of 
the Castro faction had driven the gfovernor from the 



2i6 The Life and Times of 

capital, but while his authority was recognized by 
Mexico. It was put in evidence at the trial, that Mex- 
ico instructed him to issue the grant. It was held by 
the Supreme Court that the twenty-two league grant 
was defective because the government set up by the 
rebellious faction never recognized the grant and that 
it had not been confirmed by the departmental gov- 
ernment. The departmental government set up by 
Castro and Pico was in rebellion against the Mexican 
government, and was not a recognized government 
until after this transaction. At the trial, the fact was 
also put in evidence that when Sutter asked for the 
twenty-two leagues. Governor Micheltorena sent his 
request on to Mexico, and that government, in reply, 
instructed him to issue the grant as solicited. 

The printed evidence in Sutter's land cases will fill 
a thousand i6mo pages. The expense of this suit, 
including witness fees, mileage, and fees for eminent 
counsel, was about $200,000. Sutter had paid $31,- 
000 tax on the land of which he was despoiled. Hav- 
ing conveyed more land than he owned, it cost him 
$100,000 to make his covenants good. 

Being despoiled of his estates once so princely, and 
his flocks once so extensive, and becoming financially 
involved in his land suits, his credit became impaired 
and his troubles and embarrassments increased until he 
finally, as the sad act of his life, mortgaged away his 
Hock fcirm. 



General John A. Sutter. 217 

The bold explorer, the brave and humane general 
and the generous pioneer was stripped of his posses- 
sions in his old age, with nowhere to lay his head. 

The United States government, with all its com- 
mendable doings, and they are many, has been ex- 
ceeding dilatory in adjusting private claims. 

When Louisiana was purchased by the United States 
portions of her land had been granted to private in- 
dividuals in a manner very similar to the granting of 
these lands under consideration; and commissioners 
were appointed to inquire into said grant. Some of 
those claims, to the disgrace of our government, were 
in litigation more than forty years, and until the hon- 
est claimant had slumbered for years in the grave. 
The California claimants anticipated similar results 
from an effort of investigation. They felt that they 
were a ccjnquered people, and must go before a board 
created by their conquerors, who, in a tongue unknown 
t(^ them, would investigate at convenience and report 
at leisure. 

These conclusions were not the work of imaghiation. 
The light of the past shines over the present. Some 
of these land cases in California ran through ten or 
twelve years at an expense of $150,000 and upwards, 
and taking from the owner in the end the accumula- 
tions of a lifetime. 



2 1 8 The Life and Times of 



THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO. 



When Sacramento City was first laid out its site 
was owned by Sutter, and the first merchandising, ex- 
cept the traffic in blankets, beads and brown-cloth, etc., 
by Sutter, was carried on under the firm name of 
Brannan, Smith & Co. The store was an adobe build- 
ing standing near the fort. Brannan finally bought 
his partners out and carried on the business alone. 
The city was an assemblage of tents. As early as '48, 
it was again laid out by a competent civil engineer. 
Gen. W. T. Sherman being present assisted in reor- 
ganizing it. The lots were made shapely and the 
streets neat and methodical, although a little at vari- 
ance with the cardinal points of the compass. 

About the time Sutter conveyed the city property 
to his son, an effort was made to build the city near 
the Sacramento River three miles below the embar- 
cadero. This place was called Sutterville. Later, 
some "Romulus" undertook to build a city on the left 
bank of the Rio de los Americanos about four miles 
above Sacramento. He pushed his enterprise to the 
extent of cutting some brush, driving a stake and writ- 
ing Hoboken on it. At a point where the Sacramento 
River and the American at that time joined currents, a 
beautiful city was built, in imagination, with tidy 



General John A. Sutter. 219 

streets, fragrant parks, sparkling fountains, wonderful 
palaces and grand boulevards. This city with all its 
beauties was defective. It never possessed the power 
to materialize on earth. Sutterville and Hoboken soon 
retired from the field of competition, leaving Sacra- 
mento City alone in its glory. 



SALE OF CONCERT TICKETS. 



From some of the literature of Sacramento current 
in February, 1853, the following is obtained: 

"San Francisco outdone. Sacramento jubilant. 

'Xast evening a large audience assembled at the 
Orleans in Sacramento City for the twofold pur- 
pose of attending the Plank Road Meeting and the 
Auction Sale of tickets to Miss Kate Hayes' 
first concert. The bidding was started at $100 
and seconded instantly by a cry of $150, which 
brought a response from the first bidder of $50 more 
and between the two it was carried to $450, when a 
prominent citizen stepped into the ring, with a bid of 
S500. 

■'Now be it known it was the intention of the dif- 
ferent parties to bid $1000; though it was kept a pro- 
fc und secret from the crowd. 

**The fever had gotten hold of the audience, and to 
outdo San Francisco, — to show there was still some 
'Small change' left in our midst, — and that Miss 



220 The Life and Times of 

Hayes should not have occasion to regret her coming 
for want of public spirit, was the prevailing feeling. 
xAll eyes were turned to a certain corner where, after 
brisk bidding, $1,150 was proclaimed in a loud voice; 
then a voice said $1,175, and ere a second elapsed 
every one heard a full, clear voice sound $1,200, and 
it was almost immediately knocked down arid the name 
called for. Another long-drawn breath, and the wel- 
come cheering sound of 'The Sutter Rifles,' was heard. 
Every one knew the old Pioneer, Capt. John A. Sut- 
ter, would be the honored recipient of this distin- 
guished compliment, and cheer on cheer was given for 
many minutes for the good taste and liberal spirit 
shown by this well-known corps. The next ticket sold 
for $50, and then the premium went down to one 
dollar. 

"The concert takes place this evening and an escort 
was sent early to bring the gallant old Captain on the 
afternoon Marysville boat, tO' occupy, the seat of honor 
of the house, consisting of a sofa in front of the pews. 
A brilliant assemblage of ladies will welcome the canta- 
trice on her first appearance and bestow the commenda- 
tion she may, by her singing, merit at their hands." 



General John A. Slitter. 221 



ELLEN BUZZELL. 



Several years ago, at a meeting of the San Joaquin 
Society of California Pioneers, Mrs. Grattan volun- 
teered to procure a photograph of her sister ''Nell" 
(Ellen) who was born to Mr. and Mrs. Buzzell at Sut- 
ter's Fort on the second day of August, 1845, and 
claimed to be the first Caucasian child born to Ameri- 
can parents in Sacramento Valley. 



ANDREWS TO SUTTER. 



''Sacramento, Aug. 20, 1853. 
To Major-General John A. Sutter,— 

Dear Sir : In consideration of your early services 
to the State of California, I have deemed it not inap- 
propriate to prepare this sword as a present to you. A 
tribute so trifling in itself can be regarded only as an 
expression of the esteem which in common with my 
fellow-citizens, I entertain for your personal kindness 
and self-sacrifice for the good of the State. You are 
honored and esteemed by not only those who have 
known you, but wherever your reputation has ex- 
tended; and I would have you accept this sword in 
proof of the fact that virtue in the distinguished citi- 
zen is not always unappreciated, and that private 



222 The Life and Times of 

worth can have no better need than in the affections of 
a grateful people. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant. 

''A. Andrews, 
*Xate Captain commanding Company A, 
Second Ohio Regiment." 



GENERAL SUTTER'S REPLY. 



"Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the 
receipt of your highly esteemed favor of this date, ac- 
companied by a sword. 

''I claim no credit whatever for any services I may 
have rendered in the early days of California. As 
one of its pioneers, I could not do less than use my 
best exertion to promote its prosperity and contribute 
to the comfort and enjoyment of those who followed 
me to its lovely valleys. To do so was a pleasure, and 
that alone prompted me in everything that I did. If 
in promoting my own pleasure, I have been so fortu- 
nate as to secure the esteem of my fellow-citizens, I am 
doubly paid. 

''For the expression of your personal consideration, 
and the sword which you present as a token of that 
consideration, you will please accept my thanks, and 
you may rest assured that I shall ever cherish a lively 
remembrance of your kindness. With, dear sir, the as- 



General John A. Sutter. 223 

surance of my personal esteem, I am most respectfully, 
your obedient servant, 

"J. A. Sutter." 



FIRST GRAND BALL IN SACRAMENTO. 



For a pleasing account of the first grand ball 
given in Sacramento, we are indebted to Dr. Morse, 
who, as his style is inimitable, I will quote vebatim. 

"About the 4th of July (1849), a grand ball was 
given at the City Hotel, which building was not yet 
completed. An immense and vigorous effort was made 
tc get up a ball on a magnificent scale. To do this 
it was essentially important that every Caucasian de- 
scendant of Eve in this section of the State should 
be present. Accordingly a respectable number of gal- 
lant young gentlemen were commissioned to explore 
the country, with specific instructions to visit every 
ranch, tent or wagon bed where there was any indica- 
tion of feminine divinity and irrespective of age, cul- 
tivation or grace, to bring one and all to this aristo- 
cratic festal occasion. These orders were admirably 
attended to, and at the opening of the dance the hun- 
gry, rather voracious optics of about 200 plain-look- 
ine eentlemen were greeted with the absolute pres- 
ence of some eighteen ladies, not amazons all, but re- 
plete with all the adornments that belong to bold and 



224 The Life and Times of 

enterprising pioneers of a new country. Such a sight 
in CaHfornia, at that time, was almost a miraculous 
exhibition and filled men with such an ebullition of 
sentiment as tO' make it impossible to breathe without 
inhaling the dying cadences of the most devoted and 
tenderly expressed politeness. Tickets of admission to 
this ball were $35. The supper was most sumptuous- 
ly prepared, and champagne circulated so freely that 
identity became jeopardized, and the very illumina- 
tion of the room converted into a grand magnifying 
medium for the revels of fancy and delights." 



THE "HOUNDS" OF 1849, 



This society was the union of unhung scoundrels, 
self-licensed robbers, plunderers and thieves; not one 
of whom would have been admitted into the organiza- 
tion of thieves famous in the entertainment of the 
Arabian Nights. Their operations were chiefly con- 
fined to San Francisco and their place of business was 
called Tammany Hall. They claimed to be banded 
in the interest of self-protection. They finally dropped 
their original name ''Hounds" and chose the more 
pleasing and euphonious title ''Regulators." They be- 
came so formidable as to encourage great boldness in 
the execution of schemes not planned in justice or 
equity nor sanctioned by men of honor or respectability. 
They pursued their outrages during witches' holiday 



General John A. Sutter. 22^ 

(dead of night), entering shops, stores and business 
places generally and demanding and taking whatever 
they wanted. He who had the hardihood to oppose 
them was knocked down with a bludgeon, sandbag or 
such missile as the villain possessed. Many of these 
being convicts from various state prisons and having 
little to live for, and therefore little fear of death, they 
became assailants that respectable men had no desire 
to encounter. Espe:ially did their outrages fall upon 
foreigners whose tents they entered, plundering, rav- 
ishing and killing outright. The police force, such as 
it was, was illy organized. 

In the rush for gold and the general greed for gain, 
government received but little attention. In short, it 
was severely let alone. Each and every man resolved 
himself into a committee of one to attend to his own 
affairs and to look after and report to, himself only. 

The lawless conduct of the Regulators reached its 
crisis on Sunday the 15th day of July, 1850. The fol- 
lowing day a mass meeting was called, judges ap- 
pointed, juries impaneled and some of the rioters were 
tried and sentenced to imprisonment. Some of the 
most desperate characters in San Francisco at this 
time were from Van Dieman's Land and New South 
Wales, to which countries they had been sent from the 
social cesspools of England and were an accumulation 
of filth, rascality and baseness. America, herself, was 
not barren of similar elements. The scoundrels from 



H 



226 Tlic Life and Times of 

other countries managed to work their way here, some 
as stowaways and some before the mast. It is hardly 
necessary to conjecture by what means they all reached 
San Francisco. They got there, and (policemen not 
a few) early began, secretly, to aid in carrying on their 
diabolical work. Straw bail was at par. More than 
one hundred murders had been committed in the city 
and not one of the perpetrators had been brought to 
justice. Emboldened by their success they paraded 
the streets in military order, with arms as diversified 
as the scoundrels were that bore them. 



THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 



In June, 1851, a vigilance committee was formed 
with the following constitution; ''Whereas, it has be- 
come apparent to the citizens of San Francisco, that 
there is no security for life and property, either under 
the regulations of society as it at present exists, or 
under the laws as administered; Therefore, the citi- 
zens, whose names are hereunto attached, do unite 
themselves into an association for the maintenance of 
the peace and good order of society, and the preserva- 
tion of the lives and property of the citizens of San 
Francisco; and do bind ourselves, each unto the others, 
to do and perform every lawful act for the maintenance 
of law and order, and to sustain the laws, when faith- 



General John A. Sutter. 227 

fully and properly administered ; but we are determined 
that no thief, burglar, incendiary or assassin shall es- 
cape punishment; either by quibbles of the laws, the 
insecurity of prisons, the carelessness or corruptness 
of the police, or a laxity of those who pretend to ad- 
minister justice. And to secure the objects of this 
association we do hereby agree, ist, that the name and 
style of the association shall be the Committee of Vig- 
ilance, for the protection of the lives and property of 
the citizens and residents of the City of San Fran- 
cisco." Other rules and regulations too long to be 
given here were made. This committee had about 
seven hundred and fifty members and Sam Brannan, 
the Mormon, was their president. On the evening of 
the loth of June, John Jenkins, a man of notoriously 
bad character, was arrested, tried and hung by the com- 
mittee. On the nth of July, James Stuart was ar- 
rested, regularly tried and after making a startling 
confession of crimes, was hung. 

The following is quoted from the report of the grand 
jury impaneled in 1851 for the special July term by 
the Court of Sessions : "When we recall the delays, 
the insufficient, and, we believe that with truth it may 
be said, the corrupt administration of justice, the in- 
capacity and indifference of those who are its sworn 
guardians and ministers, the frequent disregard of 
duty and impatience while attending to the performance 
of duty manifested by some of our judges, the many 



228 The Life and Times of 

notorious villains who have gone unpunished, lead us 
as stowaways and some before the mast. It is hardly 
governed by a feeling of opposition to the manner in 
which the law has been administered rather than a 
disregard to the law itself, t^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ 
To the members of the Vigilance Committee we are in- 
debted for much valuable information and many im- 
portant witnesses." 

On the 24th day of the following August Samuel 
Whittaker and Robert McKenzie, after having a fair 
trial and having confessed their guilt, were hung side 
by side in public view, by the committee. When the 
city authorities offered $25,000 for the apprehensii n 
of an incendiary the committee offered double the 
amount. The outlaws, of whom some were police- 
men and some judges, becoming satisfied that the 
Vigilantes had organized for a purpose and believing it 
would enhance their interests to observe a little better 
decorum, began to dispense with their midnight rob- 
beries and a tone of security began to declare itself. 
The Vigilantes, deeming further demonstration un- 
necessary, ceased to convene. 

In 1855 a new Vigilance Committee was formed 
similar in its purposes, but greatly surpassing in num- 
bers that of which I have just given some account. 
The principal committee was located in the city of San 
Francisco, being organized for the avowed purpose of 
correcting the evils in society and for the security of 



General John A. Sutter. 229 

life and property in that city. Other cities followed 
the example set by San Francisco and formed asso- 
ciations for the protection of individual rights. Hang- 
town, Sacramento and Marysville each had an organ- 
ization and a vigilance committee. While these several 
committees were formed especially to reform the abuses 
of the city in which the organizations were located, 
each committee regarded itself as auxiliary to the great 
force at San Francisco, to which place they were ready 
to repair when solicited to do so. San Francisco alone 
had eight thousand members. They put up such a 
formidable front, that the sheriff of San Francisco 
with all the aid he could command was unable to con- 
trol them. Even the governor was not equal to the 
task. The Vigilantes of San Francisco comprised some 
of the ablest and most respectable men in the city — 
men of standing — men of property — men who had in- 
terests to protect. No man could become a member of 
this committee who did not pass a satisfactory exami- 
nation before a board duly created to examine candi- 
dates. 

On the evening of November 17th, 1855, General 
William H. Richardson was assassinated in the streets 
of San Francisco by one Charles Cora, an Italian by 
birth but for some time a resident of California. From 
the reports in the Alta, for many years the leading and 
ablest edited paper of San Francisco, and other San 
Francisco papers and from public demonstration, Rich- 



230 The Life and Times of 

ardson appears to have been a gentleman of parts and 
of many virtues. At all events a feeling of deep in- 
dignation prevailed throughout the city. He was born 
in Washington, D. C, and was about 33 years old. 
Cora's reputation appears to have been less enviable. 
He was arrested and lodged in jail. In due time the 
case went to trial; with Alexander Campbell as judge, 
Col. Inge and Mr. Byrne counsel for the State and 
Gen. McDougal and Col. Baker* for the defense. The 
jury disagreeing, Cora was re-committed to jail on the 
17th day of January. 

On the 14th day of May, 1856, James P. Casey, edi- 
tor of the Sunday Times, shot and killed James King, 
editor of the Evening Bulletin. Casey was a graduate 
of a renowned institution for criminals located at Sing- 
Sing, New York. When arrested for killing King he 
refused to give up his arms and showed fight. On the 
approach of several officers he said he would go but 
they must not take his arms, he w^as not going to be 
hung. He was hurried to the station house foUow^ed 
by an excited populace. The heavy doors being quick- 
ly locked behind him, the officers were able to repulse 
his pursuers. People continued to gather about the 



* Colonel E. D. Baker, the orator, jurist aiid statesman, was born in I^ondon, 
England, 24 Feb., 1811; killed at the battle of Ball's Bluff, 21 Oct., 1S61. He came 
to the United States at the age of five. He went to Springfield. 111., with his 
brother, where he studied and commenced the practice o( law. Having a 
genius for oratory he rapidly gained distinction and popularitv. As a Whig he 
was elected a member of the legislature in 1S37. of the State Senate in 1840, and 
representative in Congress in 1844 He raised a regiment in Illinois for the 
Mexican war. He was, perhaps, the greatest orator California had up to, or in 
his time. He has been censured by some for defending Cora. 



General John A. Sutter. 231 

station, expressing- their indignation by cries of ''Hang 
him, Hang him! Take him ont ! He will get clear 1. 
the officers keep him." 

The excitement was contagious, spreading like an 
epidemic on wnngs of air ; it was caught by citizens of 
Marysville, Hangtown (Placerville), Folsom and 
Sacramento. The list of enrolled members in San 
Francisco increased rapidly. Many of the V^igilantes 
of the :ities referred to went to San Francisco to wit- 
ness the scenes and to aid in enforcing justice. 

The Sheriff of San Francisco, with all the force at 
his command was powerless in an attempt to execute 
his functions. He, however, was treated with civility. 
Having applied to Mrs. Hutchins, wdio kept a lodging- 
house near the jail, for lodging for some of the offi- 
cers and soldiers who were watching the jail, he was 
promptly informed by the lady that ''None of her prem- 
ises could be used for that purpose." Mayor Van 
Ness applied to the commander of a revenue cutter in 
the harbor to receive Casey on board for greater pro- 
tection. This the commander refused to do, saying he 
wanted no man of his character thrust upon him. 
One hundred men, more or less, procured a cannon 
from each of the two steamers. Sea Bird and Goliath, 
lying at the Pacific wharf. These cannon were to be 
used if necessary in defending the jail. But the military 
failed to respond when called to aid the Sheriff in its 
defense. 



232 The Life and Times of 

At a mass meeting held at Marysville the following 
resolutions were passed : 

''Resolved, That we recognized in James King, as 
editor of the Bulletin, the sincere and earnest friend 
of the poor ; the bold and fearless exposer of vice, crime 
and corruption ; the independent and uncompromising 
opponent of official villains and swindlers, and the 
best and most faithful exponent our State has af- 
forded of that correct sentiment which everywhere 
prevails among the masses of the people. 

''Resolved, That the late attempted assassination of 
Mr. King, a useful, respectable and peaceful citizen 
of San Francisco, by James P. Casey, who is a grad- 
uated convict of (Sing-Sing) the New York State 
Prison and a notorious ruffian and fraud, is an offense 
against the peace, the order, and the good of the 
State; so heinous an offense as to demand an ex- 
pression of condemnation from every good citizen in 
the land. — Marysville Herald, by Smith. (Mr. King 
died on the 20th of May and Casey and Cora were 
hung on the 22d.) . 

On the 1 8th of May twenty-six hundred armed men 
marched in military order in front of the jail, and 
placing the two cannon in position to command the 
door of the jail proceeded to load them with powder 
and ball. Mr. M. F. Truett rapped on the jail door and 
the Sheriff, David Scannel, came cut. Truett, on be- 
half of the committee, asked him to handcuff Casev 



General John A. Sutter. 233 

and deliver him at the door. After some parleying 
Mr. North handcuffed the prisoner and delivered him 
tc the committee, who conducted him to a coach in 
waiting and, at his request, Mr. North took a seat by 
his side. The committee requested the person of 
Charles Cora to be given into their hands. This the 
Sheriff refused to do. After the lapse of an hour, 
which was granted the Sheriff in which to consider the 
matter, Cora also was delivered to the committee, who 
conveyed the prisoners to their rooms where they were 
guarded by several hundred men. 

Consonant to the request of Cora's spiritual adviser. 
Belle Cora, by appellation, appeared on the scene. 
This woman was Cora's paramour. The Holy 
Father refused to give Cora absolution except he marry 
the woman with whom he had cohabited. This done 
and the hemp he was about tO' stretch would land him 
in Paradise. Fearing it might leave a damaging stain 
upon her character to marry Cora, she at first refused. 
But believing the nuptial ceremony to be Cora's pass- 
port into realms of felicity, she consented. 

It was not the purpose of this committee to hang a 
criminal except the penalty attached to his crime by 
the laws of the land was capital. They assumed the 
right, however, to imprison and to expel from the 
country any one who might be convicted of crimes less 
than murder. The first resolution passed by the com 
mittee after executing the two ''C's" is copied from a 
quotation by Smith : 



234 "The Life and Times of 

"Resolved, That we forbid the discussion of any po- 
Htical, sectional, sectarian or any partisan character 
whatever, in or about the rooms. 

"We allow persons of all nations and tongues of 
good moral character to become members. These are 
the fundamental principles of the body and will be ad- 
hered to. 

''All creeds, religions and political opinions must be 
thrown aside. We enter the great battle of virtu" 
against vice, of right against wrong, of liberty against 
oppression; and we are determined at all hazards to 
crush out the monster vice of election frauds as the 
greatest cause of all our troubles." 

At the time Cora and Casey were hung, there were 
others held in confinement l)v the committee, auKjno- 
whom was Yankee Sullivan, the noted pugilist, who 
once defeated John Morrissey, who afterwards became 
congressman from New York. Sullivan suicided in 
jail by cutting the large artery in his arm with a case- 
knife which he had managed to conceal. The com- 
mittee had never intended to hang him and so assured 
him, but had determined to deport him. He had made 
m.any startling and incriminating revelations in his 
C(jnfession with reference to his associates in crime, 
naming the persons who had bril^ed him in handling 
the ballot boxes and other frauds. This confession 
the papers printed in full; and for this he was afraid 
they would kill him if he were turned loose. A fright- 



General John A. Sutter. 235 

ful dream he had the night before may have influen:ed 
his actions. 

On June 22, 1856, Gov. J. Neely Johnson sent a 
communication to Major-General W. T. Sherman, 
commanding him to call upon such members of the 
■enrolled militia, or those subject to military duty, c;s 
he deemed necessary, also upon the volunteer independ- 
ent companies of the military division under his com- 
mand, to report, organize, and act with him in enforc- 
ing the law. The Governor declared San Francisco to 
be in a state of insurrection, and ordered all the militia 
to report to General Sherman. This call for recruits 
was illy responded to, and they came in very slowdy. 
A day oi: two after the Governor's proclamation, the 
evidence in the case of some of the notorious characters 
confined in the committee rooms having been heard, 
six were deported on the Hercules. 



236 The Life and Times of 



ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE PEOPLE 
OF CALIFORNIA. 



June 9th, 1856. 

The Committee of Vigilance placed in the position 
they now occupy by the voice and countenance of the 
vast majority of their fellow-citizens, as executors of 
their will, desire to define the necessity which has 
forced their present organization. 

Great public emergencies demand prompt and vigor- 
ous remedies. 

The people, long suffering under an organized des- 
potism, which has invaded their liberties, squandered 
their property, usurped their offices of trust and emol- 
ument, prevented the expression of their will through 
the ballot box, and have corrupted the channels of 
justice, have not arisen in virtue of their inherent right 
and power. All political, religious and sectional dif- 
ferences and issues have given way to the paramount 
necessity of a thorough and fundamental reform and 
purification of the social and political body. 

The voice of the whole people have demanded union 
and organization, as the only way of making^ our laws 
effective, and regaining the right of free speach, free 
vote, and public safety. For years they have patiently 
waited and striven in a peaceful manner, and in ac- 



General John A. Sutter. 237 

cordance with the forms of law, to reform the abuses 
which have made our city a by-word. Fraud and vio- 
lence have foiled every effort; and the laws to which 
the people looked for protection, were distorted and 
rendered effete in practice, so as to shield the vile ; they 
have been used as a powerful engine to fasten upon us 
tyranny and misrule. 

We looked to the ballot box as our safe-guard and 
sure remedy. But so effectually, and so long was its 
voice smothered, the votes deposited in it by freemen 
so entirely outnumbered by ballots thrust in by fraud at 
midnight, or multiplied by false counts of judges and 
inspectors of election, that many doubted whether the 
majority of the people were not utterly corrupt. 

Organized gangs of bad men, of all political parties, 
or who assumed any particular creed from mercenary 
and corrupt motives, have parceled out our offices 
among themselves, or sold them to the highest bidders ; 
have provided themselves with convenient tools to 
obey their nod, as clerks, inspectors, and judges of 
election ; have employed bullies and professional fight- 
ers to destroy tally lists by force, and to prevent peace- 
able citizens from ascertaining, in a lawful manner, 
the true number of votes polled at our elections; and 
have used cunningly contrived ballot boxes, with false 
sides and bottoms, so prepared that by means of a 
spring or slide, spurious tickets (placed there previous 
to the election) could be mingled with genuine votes! 



238 The Life and Times of 

Of all this, we have the most irrefragable proofs. Fel- 
ons from other lands and states, and unconvicted crim- 
inals, equally as bad, have thus controlled public funds 
and property, and have often amassed sudden fortunes, 
without having done an honest day's work with head 
or hands. Thus the fair inheritance of our city has 
been embezzled and squandered; our streets and 
wharves are in ruins; and the miserable entailment of 
an enormous debt will bequeath sorrow and poverty 
to another generation. 

The jury box has been tampered with, and our jury 
trials have been made to shield the hundreds of mur- 
derers, whose red hands have cemented this tyranny, 
and silenced with the bowie-knife and the pistol, not 
only the free voice of an indignant press, but the shud- 
dering rebuke of the outraged citizen. To our shame, 
be it said, that the inhabitants of distant lands already 
know that corrupt men in office, as well as gamblers, 
shoulder strikers, and other vile tools of unscrupulous 
leaders, beat, maim, and shoot down with impunity, 
good, peaceable, and unoffending citizens. Such as 
those earnest reformers, who, at the known hazard of 
their lives, and with singleness of heart, have sought, 
in a lawful manner, to thwart schemes of public plun- 
der, or to awaken investigation. 

Embodied in the principles of republican govern- 
ment are the truths that the majority should rule; and 
when corrupt officials, who have fraudulently seized 



General John A. Sutter. 239 

the reins of authority, designedly thwart the execution 
of the laws of punishment upon the notoriously guilty, 
then the power they usurped reverts back to the people 
from whom it was wrested. Realizing these truths, 
and confident that they were carrying out the will of 
the vast majority of the citizens of this country, the 
Committee of Vigilance, under a solemn sense of 
responsibility that rested upon them, have calmly and 
dispassionately weighed the evidences before them, and 
decreed the death of some, who, by their crimes and 
villainies, had stained our fair land. 

With those that were banished, this comparatively 
moderate punishment was chosen, not because ignomin- 
ious death was not deserved, but that the error, if any, 
might surely be on the side of mercy to the criminal. 
There are others scarcely less guilty, against whom 
the same punishment has been decreed, but they have 
been allowed further time to arrange for their final de- 
parture, and with the hope that permission to depart 
voluntarily, might induce repentance and repentance 
amendment, they have been suffered to choose within 
limits their own time and method of going. Thus far, 
and throughout their arduous duties they have been 
and will be guided by the most conscientious convic- 
tions of imperative duty, and they earnestly hope that 
in endeavoring to mete out merciful justice to the 
guilty their counsels may be so guided, by that power 
before whose tribunal we all shall stand, that in the 



240 The Life and Times of 

vicissitudes of after life, amid the calm reflection of 
old age, and in clear view of dying conscience, there 
may be found nothing we would regret or wish to 
change. We have no friends to reward, no enemies 
to punish, no private ends to accomplish. 

Our single, heartfelt aim is the public good; the 
purging from our community of those abandoned char- 
acters whose actions have been evil continually, and 
have finally forced upon us the efforts we are now 
making. We have no favoritism as a body, nor shall 
there be evinced, in any of our acts, either partiality 
for, or prejudice against any race, sect or party. While 
thus far we have not discovered on the part of our con- 
stituents any indication of lack of confidence, and have 
no reason to doubt that the great majority of the in- 
habitants of the county indorse our acts, and desire us 
to continue the work of weeding out the irreclaimable 
characters from the community; we have, with deep 
regret, seen that some of the State authorities have felt 
it their duty to organize a force to resist us. It is not 
impossible for us to realize that not only those gentle- 
men who, accepting offices to which they were hon- 
estly elected, have sworn to support the laws of the 
State of California, find it difficult to reconcile their 
supposed duties with acquiescence in the acts of the 
Committee of Vigilance, when they reflect that more 
than three-fourths of the people of the entire State 
svmpathize with, and endorse our efforts; and as all 



General John A. Sutter. 241 

law emanates from the people, so, also, when the laws 
thus enacted are not executed, the power returns to 
the people and is theirs whenever they may choose to 
make their present movement a complete revolution, 
recalling- all the power they had delegated, and re-is- 
suing it to new agents under new forms. Now, be- 
cause the people have not seen fit to resume all the 
powers they have confided to executive or state officers, 
it certainly does not follow they cannot, in the exer- 
cise of their inherent, sovereign power, withdraw from 
corrupt and unfaithful servants the authority they 
have used to thwart the ends of justice. 

Those officials whose mistaken sense of duty leads 
them to array themselves against the derermined ac- 
tion of the people, whose servants they have become, 
may be respected, while their errors may be regretted ; 
but none can envy the future reflections of that man 
who, whether in the heat of malignant passion or with 
the vain hope of preserving by violence a position ob- 
tained through fraud and bribery, seeks, under the 
color of law, to enlist the outcasts of society, as a hire- 
ling soldiery in the service of the State*; or urges crim- 
inals, by hopes of plunder, to continue at the cost of 
civil war, the reign of ballot-box stuffers and tamper- 
ers with the jury box. 

The Committee of Vigilance believe that the people 
have entrusted to them the duty of gathering evidence, 
and after due trial, expelling from the community 



242 TJie Life and Times of 

those ruffians and assassins who have so long outraged 
the peace and good order of society; violated the 
ballot box, overridden law, and thwarted justice. Be- 
yond the duties incident to this, we do not desire to 
interfere with the details of government. We have 
spared and shall spare no effort to avoid bloodshed or 
civil war; but undeterred by threats of opposing or- 
ganization, shall continue, peaceably if we can, forci- 
bly if we must, this work of reform, to which we have 
pledged our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. 
Our labors have been arduous, our deliberations have 
been cautious, our determinations firm, our counsels 
prudent, our motives pure; and while regretting the 
imperious necessity which called us into action, we are 
anxious that this necessity should exist no longer; and 
when our labors shall have been accomplished, when 
the community shall be freed from the evils it has so 
long endured, when we have insured to our citizens an 
honest and vigorous protection of their rights; then 
the Committee of Vigilance will find great pleasure in 
resigning their power into the hands of the people, 
from whom it was received. 

Published by order of the "Committee, No. 33. Sec- 
retary." 



General John A. Sutter. 243 



THE NATIONAL GUARD. 



At a meeting of the National Guard on the loth of 
June the following preamble and resolutions were 
adopted : 

"Whereas, Recent events, well known to all, having 
placed this corps in a wrong position before the public, 
therefore, it is hereby 

''Resolved, That in consequence of our arms having 
been taken from us by the Adjutant-General of the 
State, this corps do now disband; preferring this course 
to that of becoming the slaughterers of our fellow-citi- 
zens. 

"Resolved, That this corps do now reorganize under 
the name of the Independent National Guard. Hold- 
ing ourselves subject only to such rules and regulations, 
in sustaining the cardinal interests of the community, 
as our best judgment may dictate, we hereby repudiate 
all connection with the present State authorities." 

Wm. H. Jones, Secretary. 

On the same day Hampton North, City Marshal of 
the City of San Francisco, and the Common Council, 
handed to Mayor Van Ness the following communi- 
cation : 

"Gentlemen — I beg herewith to tender to you and 
through you, to my constituents, my resignation of the 



244 ^^^^ ^^7^ <3wJ Times of 

office of City Marshal of the City of San Francisco 
to which I was duly elected on the 28th day of May, 

1855- 

''Hoping that this act may tend to restore harmony 
in the present distracted affairs of this community, 
"I remain respectfully, 

''Hampton North." 

On the 7th day of June, General Sherman resigned 
his commission of Major-General, and, it is said, gave 
as his reason for doing so, that in counseling modera- 
tion with the Governor they could not agree on the 
course to be pursued. On the 22nd day of June, sev- 
eral members of the Vigilance Committee, in arrest- 
ing Rube Maloney for some misdemeanor, encountered 
D. S. Terry, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, 
who it appears was defending Maloney. Stirling A. 
Hopkins, one of the committee, was especially antag- 
onized by Terry, who, it was shown, was seen to draw 
a knife and stab him (Hopkins) in the neck. It was 
stated also that Terry, before the stabbing, was seen 
to stagger as if from being struck with a revolver 
which it was sought to show had been in the hand of 
Hopkins. Excitement followed. Hopkins ran down 
the street and exclaimed, "I am shot." He was taken 
to a room where he received proper care. Judge Terry 
and Maloney fled to the Armory and some of the "law 
and order" men (a term of derision) rushed in to pro- 
tect them. The building was soon surrounded by Vig- 



General John A. Sutter. 245 

ilant boys who sought to prevent the escape of Terry 
and Maloney. 

Members of the committee who were engaged, each 
in his respective business, at the first sound of the 
great alarm bell dropped their implements of toil and 
hurried to the council rooms. Draymen with half- 
loaded wagons stripped the harness from their horses, 
mounted them and took their position in the battalion. 
The business was so systematized that within fifteen 
minutes from the first sound of the alarm, five hun- 
dred armed men whose heart and soul were in the work 
could be convened. The prisoners, Terry and Ma- 
loney, were lodged in the committee rooms. 

On the evening of July 24, 1856, Joseph Hethering- 
ton shot and killed Dr. Randall. In 1853 he had killed 
Dr. Baldwin, but was acquitted by a jury and be- 
fore a judge upon whom comment were redundant. 
He was arrested for killing Randall by city officials, 
but they turned him over to the Vigilantes. He and 
one Philander Brace, the murderer of Captain West in 
1854, and who, it was believed, killed Marion two or 
three days afterward, were executed by the committee, 
on the 29th day of July. Hetherington was born in 
Cumberland County, England, but came to the United 
States when a boy and lived until 1850, a part of the 
time in New Orleans and a part in St. Louis. He was 
35 years old and possessed a respectable fortune. 

Brace was about 21 years of age, good looking and 



246 The Life and Times of 

well dressed. Few men possessed more vice and wick- 
edness than he. While in his cell he was visited by sev- 
eral clergymen, all of whom he treated with contempt ; 
cursing, swearing and using vulgar expressions and 
obscene language in their presence and even threaten- 
ing to kick them out of his cell. He was born in Canan- 
daigua County, New York, and was a young man of 
fine abilities both native and acquired. 

Both of these prisoners displayed remarkable cool- 
ness on the scaffold; assisting the officers in adjust- 
ing the rope about their necks. They removed their 
neckties and unbuttoned their collars without help. 
The criminals shook hands with each other and ex- 
changed a few words. Omitting some of Hethering- 
ton's remarks I will copy from Smith's account: 

''The Rev. Bishop Kipp has been with me all day — 
not all day, but nearly all." Brace here interrupted 
him, "Go on, go on with what you have to say." (The 
executioner checked Brace, who replied to him, 
"Away, you ") 

Hetherington — "I am not any more penitent to- 
day than I have been any day of my life." 

Brace — "Go on, old boss." 

Hetherington — "In a conversation which I had with 
Mr. O'Brien, two weeks ago, our conversation turned 
upon religion, and I assured him that there never 
was a day in my life " 

Brace — "Hurry up and not stop so long. D'ye think 



General John A. Sutter. 247 

I want to stand here and be stared at by these igno- 
ramuses? I wish to meet my doom immediately." 

Hetherington — 'They tell me to stop." (Several 
voices, ''Go on, go on, Hetherington.") 

Hetherington — "I have not disobeyed any of the 
rules of that house, (pointing to the committee rooms). 
I should be very sorry to do it; if you will say go, 
J will go on." 

Brace — ''Go on, and brave it out; don't talk about 
Dr. Kipp. They don't want to know anything about 
him." 

Hetherington — "About my conversation with Dr. 

O'Brien, it turned upon religion " 

Brace (interrupting) — "Ah! oh, I'm drunk; so I'm 
all right." 

Hetherington — "I told the Doctor I was prepared to 
meet my God at any moment; and furthermore, that 
I never lived one day in my life that I was not pre- 
pared to meet my God at night. Dr. P. O'Brien will 
make affidavit to that, I think, if called upon." 

Brace — "You have your vengeance, gentlemen, to 

your heart's content; I don't care a I want you 

to understand that fully, clearly and distinctly, gents." 
Hetherington — "The gentlemen have given orders to 
go ahead. I will change my note ; and will merely 
say, as orders have been given to stop, that in the first 
difficulty I had with Dr. Baldwin, I had to shoot him 
in defense of my ow^n life." 



248 The Life and Times of 

* 

Brace — ''I shall die murdered by the Vigilance Com- 
mittee, July 29th, 1856. I wish that clearly and dis- 
tinctly understood on the house-top, there." 

Hetherington — ''I was acquitted of that, but still it 
hangs upon me. I must stop; but I will first add, 
that so far as killing Dr. Randall is concerned, I 
merely asked for a conversation with Mr. Calde when 
he turned around and drew his pistol. I had to kill him 
to save my own life. I have lived a gentleman all my 
life, and I will die a gentleman, though on the gallows. 
I defy any man in the whole world to prove that I have 
done one dishonorable act in my life. I have been 
abused by the public press of this city, where I have 
resided for five or six years, for some cause unknown 
to me. I am in a few minutes to be launched into 
eternity. You may please yourselves, notwithstanding 
I have no bad feelings towards any person living. I 
forgive every man freely, as I expect my Redeemer to 
forgive me. Lord have mercy on my soul!" 

Brace — '' it, dry up ! What's the use 

talking to them?" 

Hetherington — ''I was going to make a remark that 
very few people " 

Brace — *'Go it, old boss!" Etc. Etc. 



General John A. Sutter. 249 



CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE 
OF SAN FRANCISCO. 



Whereas, It has become apparent to the citizens of 
San Francisco that there is no security for Hfe and 
property, either under the regulations of society, as it at 
present exists, or under the laws as now administered, 
and that by the association together of bad charac- 
ters, our ballot boxes have been stolen and others sub- 
stituted, or stuffed with votes that were not polled, and 
thereby our elections nullified, our dearest rights vio- 
lated, and no other method left by which the will of 
the people can be manifested; therefore, the citizens 
whose names are hereunto attached, do unite them- 
selves into an association for maintenance of peace and 
good order of society — the preservation of our lives 
and property, and to insure that our ballot boxes shall 
hereafter express the actual and unforged will of the 
majority of our citizens; and we do bind ourselves, 
each unto the other, by a solemn oath, to do and per- 
form every just and lawful act for the maintenance of 
law and order, and to sustain the laws when faithfully 
and properly administered; but we are determined 
that no thief, burglar, incendiary, assassin, ballot-box 
stuffer, or other disturbers of the peace, shall escape 
punishment, either by the quibbles of the law, the in- 



250 TJic Life and Times of 

security of prisons, the carelessness or corruption of 
police, or a laxity of those who pretend to administer 
justice; and to secure the objects of this association, 
we do hereby agree : 

1st. That the name and style of this association 
shall be the Committee of Vigilance, for the protec- 
tion of the ballot box, the lives, liberty and property of 
the citizens and residents of the City of San Fran- 
cisco. 

2d. That there shall be rooms for the deliberations 
of the Committee, at which there shall be some one or 
more members of the Committee, appointed for that 
purpose, in constant attendance at all hours of the day 
and night, to receive the report of any member of tlie 
association, or of any other person or persons, of any 
act of violence done to the person or property of 
any citizen of San Francisco; and if, in the judg- 
ment of the member or members of the Committee, 
either in aiding in the execution of the laws, or the 
prompt and summary punishment of the offender, the 
Committee shall be at once assembled for the purpose 
of taking such action as the majority of them, when 
assembled, shall determine upon. 

3d. That it shall be the duty of any member or mem- 
bers of the Committee on duty at the committee rooms, 
whenever a general assemblage of the Committee be 
deemed necessary, to cause a call to be made, in such 
a manner as shall be found advisable. 



General John A. Sutter. 251 

4th. That whereas, an Executive Committee has 
been chosen by the General Committee, it shall be the 
duty of said Executive Committee to deliberate and 
act upon all important questions, and decide upon the 
measures necessary to carry out the objects for which 
the association was formed. 

5th. That whereas, this Committee has been organ- 
ized into subdivisions, the Executive Committee shall 
have the power to call, when they shall so determine, 
upon a board of delegates, to consist of three repre- 
sentatives from each division, to confer with them 
upon matters of vital importance. 

6th. That all matters of detail and government shall 
be embraced in a code of by-laws. 

7th. That the action of this body shall be entirely 
and vigorously free from all consideration of, or par- 
ticipation in the merits or demerits, or opinions or acts, 
of any and all sects, political parties, or sectional divi- 
sion in the community ; and every class of orderly citi- 
zens, of whatever sect, party, or nativity, may become 
members of this body. No discussion of political, sec- 
tional, or sectarian subjects shall be allowed in the 
rooms of the association. 

9th. That whenever the General Committee have 
assembled for deliberation, the decision of the major- 
ity, upon any question that may be submitted to them 
by the Executive Committee, shall be binding upon the 
whole; provided nevertheless, that when the delegates 



252 The Life and Times of 

are deliberating upon the punishment to be awarded to 
any criminal, no vote inflicting the death penalty shall 
be binding, unless passed by two-thirds of those pres- 
ent and entitled to vote. 

loth. That all good citizens shall be eligible for ad- 
mission to this body, under such regulations as may 
be prescribed by a committee on qualifications, and if 
any unworthy persons gain admission, they shall on 
due proof be expelled; and believing ourselves to be 
executors of the will of the majority of our citizens, 
we do pledge our sacred honor, to this committee, at 
the hazard of our lives and our fortunes. 



FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION. 



Things can be great or small only by comparison. 
Hence I may be pardoned if I wander over some of the 
ages that have gone to sleep, in my search for methods 
of transportation to contrast with that which was in- 
troduced into this country by the discovery of gold in 
California in 1848. The association of the ''days of 
old" with the ''days of gold" may lend a finer tint 
to the picture. 

Three thousand years ago the merchants of Persia 
and Palmyra loaded their camels, the "ships of the des- 
ert," with the choicest articles of commerce, and jour- 
neyed to the famous marts of the world. The Arabs. 



General John A. Sutter. 253 

too, participated in these commercial ventures. The 
frequenc}' of Thracian robbers made those journeys 
exciting and perilous. The traders traveled in large 
caravans for mutual protection against outlaws. Trans- 
portation in a period less remote reached an era when 
the city of Nijni Novgorod, on the Volga River, was 
at the zenith of its splendor. Hundreds of years before 
man appropriated the power of steam to his own use. 
merchants journeyed to this famous "City of Fairs" 
to barter in articles of merchandise. One hundred and 
thirty thousand people met there annually to partici- 
pate in the business there done. Some went for the 
purpose of bartering their wares ; some for the purpose 
of making cash sales, and some chiefly for pleasure. 
Many others, who had nothing to sell, nothing to bar- 
ter, attended them for the purpose of acquainting 
themselves with the traffic of different countries, and 
to lay in a year's supply of dry goods and groceries. 
Ideas, as well as commodities, were there exchanged 
and lessons were there learned. 

Much of the goods taken to and from Nijni Nov- 
gorod was carried, in carts and on beasts of burden, 
distances varying from a few miles to a thousand. Com- 
modities borne the greater distances were the finer 
and more expensive. The finest rugs in the world 
were brought to this market. Only families of af- 
fluence could afford the luxury of using them. Queen 
Zenobia carried the purple silks of Palmyra to this 



254 ^he Life and Times of 

famous mart. The cutlery of Damascus and Toledo 
was among the articles that glittered in the Nijnii 
Novgorod expositions. Diamonds and pearls that had 
been collected by the dealers of Persia and Arabia^ 
gave a peculiar charm to this enterprise. The Persian, 
attar of roses perfumed the city. 

When the traffic was at high tide this city contained' 
four hundred thousand souls. Much of the freight that 
was taken there was carried a part of the way on the 
barques that furrowed the lower V'olga. The fairs at 
Nijni Novgorod opened the first of xA.ugust and closed 
about the last of September. 

Now let us, by way of contrast, leave the "City of 
Fairs" and the bustle of caravans traveling to and 
from Nijni Novgorod and other commercial centers 
and turn to some of the commercial relations and trans- 
portation enterprises of America. The freighting from 
Independence, on the Missouri River, to the city of 
Chihuahua in Mexico, was carried on on a great scale. 
Huge wagons, laden at the former place, moved slowly 
but grandly over the vast expanse lying between the 
''Big Muddy" and the city in Mexico. These cara- 
vans sometimes loaded at St. Louis; their route lay 
along what was known as the Santa Fe Trail. This 
journey of a thousand miles or more was no small 
undertaking; there were streams to ford, mountains to 
scale and savages to encounter. Then, too, the sands 
were so deep and yielding, in places, as to bar advance- 



General John A. Suffer. 255 

ment until they were covered with brush, poles or hay 
to prevent the sinking of the wheels. These mate- 
rials, being seldom at hand, had to be brought from a 
distance at much inconvenience and expense. In cUmb- 
ing some of the hills, the animals usually attached to 
a wagon had to be reinforced. Many unfavorable and 
unexpected conditions little appreciated by people who 
are inexperienced in freighting under difficulties, 
camps had to be sought where good water was plen- 
tiful and feed abundant, scouts had to be employed 
and kept constantly on the alert, blacksmiths were in 
attendance to shoe the animals and to mend the broken 
chains, and other necessary mechanics were employed 
to repair the places about the wagons that no longer 
offered sufficient resistance. 

When this freighting was at its meridian the busi- 
ness might have been summed up thus : An average 
train consisted of twenty wagons, and from six to 
twelve oxen or mules to haul each wagon. In addition 
to the teams on duty, there were often from twenty to 
fifty animals in attendance for relay service. Wagon- 
masters, teamsters, scouts and herders were always 
concomitants. 

This brings us to the caravan transportation from 
the Missouri River across the plains to California. 
This great enterprise was awakened and promoted by 
the discovery of gold in California in 1848. The ''days 
of old and the days of gold" were at once associated 



256 



The Life and Times of 



in the various enterprises of transportation. All the 
energies man has ever put forth in caravan freighting- 
have been displays of great enterprise and heroism. 
The transportation of every country in every age was 
of great importance in its time and still interests us 
through the element of adventure that belongs to it. 




OVERI^AND FREIGHT TEAM. 

From the viewpoint of greatness the caravan trans- 
portation across the American continent knows no 
equal in the history of the world. Compared with it 
the transportation undertakings, of which Nijni Nov- 
gorod was the center, appear Liliputian. The great 
investment in transportation facilities from Indepen- 



General John A. Sutter. 257 

dence to Chihuahua fades into insignificance. In- 
deed, all enterprises of this class that belonged to pre- 
ceding ages, lose prestige in comparison with the period 
now under consideration. True, the silks of Palmyra, 
the cutlery of Damascus, the rugs of Persia, or the 
diamonds and pearls of the world's marts had no part 
in the commerce of the plains. Yet this enterprise was 
far more important, for it was a traffic in goods most 
vital in supplying the common necessities of man. 

The average cost of the huge ''Conestoga," ''Pitts- 
burg," or Pennsylvania wagons used in this freighting 
was about $1150. First-class mules (for no other 
would do) averaged $750 a pair. Five thousand dol- 
lars for a wagon and ten-mule team, therefore, is a 
fair estimate. Add to this the amount of expense 
of the wagonmasters, drivers and herders and the 
splendid wages paid to the blacksmiths and carpenters, 
and the expenses of a twenty-wagon train amount to 
a respectable fortune. 

When this freighting was at the height of its glory, 
five hundred heavily laden wagons, drawn by three 
thousand oxen, passed Fort Kearney, Nebraska, every 
day of the freighting season. These moving caravans 
extended, in close proximity to one another, along 
the highway a distance of forty miles. The average 
distance covered was twenty miles per day. 

Not until the marvelous enterprise and intelligence 
of the present day are far in decline will the story of 



258 The Life and Times of 

caravan transportation across the American continent 
be forgotten. The greatness of the enterprise and the 
energy, daring and perseverance of the men who par- 
ticipated in it are a credit to any nation in any age. 
Every man was an intellectual giant in his sphere, 
every man was a hero. They were men of ready re- 
sources, decision and prompt action. Many of the very 
men who had charge of those gigantic trains, were fit 
to command in battle or to govern a state; they were 
Americans. 



THE CAMEL TRAIN. 



Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War in the cabinet 
under President Pierce, recommended as a war meas- 
ure the construction of a road across the deserts to San 
Diego. He urged, also, that camels be used in trans- 
porting supplies needed in building it. This, he ar- 
gued, would aid in military reconnoissances while 
better facilities were maturing. One hundred of these 
animals were accordingly imported into this country 
and a competent Turk was employed to manage them. 
The animals were turned over to Lieut. Edward F. 
Beale, or at least as many of them as he needed in 
building the road, which enterprise had been intrusted 
to him. The trial trip was made with twenty camels 
and three dromedaries. This camel train, so novel to 



General John. A. Sutter. 259 

this country, was found to be very useful. The beasts 
were courteous enough to kneel to be loaded and un- 
loaded, while the mule is too mulish to be so accommo- 
dating. The mule, moreover, carries but half the bur- 
den, is but little more than half as speedy, and requires 
as much forage and more water. The camels not in 
immediate use were taken to Tejon, east of the moun- 
tains, where they were retained for relay and breeding 
purposes, there being two males in the herd. 

This caravan passed near Socorro, Albuquerque, 
Yuma, Mohave and San Bernardino, exciting great 
curiosity and scaring horses, mules and children. 
News of its coming preceded it in every hamlet along 
the journey. In every place of moment the natives 
gathered in large numbers, some coming from great 
distances to see the wonderful animals and to witness 
the oriental pageantry. To increase a sensation 
already bordering on the extreme, Higallu, the Turk- 
ish driver, dressed one of the largest dromedaries in 
its native attire, attaching a large number of small 
bells in strings from the top of his saddle to its fore- 
legs and around its neck. One of these camels went 
ten days without drinking, others eight days and some 
five days, refusing water in the interim. 

These animals carried seven hundred pounds with 
apparent ease and freedom of motion. Only two of 
them were taken as far as Los Angeles, where they ar- 
rived at three P. M., November 10, 1857, having 



26o 



The Life and Times of 



left San Bernardino, sixty-five miles away, at seven 
A. M. the same day. 

The enterprise, however, was not a success. Freight 
teams, especially mule teams, were so scared by them 
as to be unmanageable, so that transportation by means 
of camel caravans was soon discontinued. The ani- 
mals were given the freedom of the plains, where some 
of them were seen thirty years afterwards. Some of 
the proprietors of menageries, I am told, procured 
some of their desert ships from this band. 



THE FIDELITY OF A HORSE. 



Kind reader, let us take a brief respite from the 
monotonous trend of historical researches and regale 
on the pleasing relish of anecdote. Having ever ad- 
mired the horse for his beauty of form, his glossy coat 
and full, expressive eyes without alluding to his grand 
and noble bearing, the praise bestowed upon him is 
ever grateful to me. 

In the pioneer days of Arizona and New Mexico, 
v/hen but few Caucasians were there and those were 
of Stirling ''stuff," a few mail routes were established, 
chiefly for the convenience of government officials 
that were stationed at various posts along the ''wild 
and woolly" frontier. The mail was carried on horse- 
back. The Indians, especially the Apaches, being 



General John A. Suffer 



201 



numerous, hostile and treacherous, the rider took his 
life in his own hands. On one occasion when going 
from Prescott to Fort Wingate he was attacked by the 
Apaches when within four or five miles of the latter 
place. Being severely wounded the rider fell from 
his horse. Two Bits, (this being the name of the 




TWO BITS." 



horse,) wlm was also wounded in several places, halt- 
ing, waited a moment, in a shower of bullets, for his 
brave rider to rally and mount, which he failed to do. 
The noble animal after smelling at his master's head 
galloped away to Fort Wingate, where the boys, see- 



262 The Life and Times of 

ing him bloody and riderless, tried in their anxiety to 
catch him. Two Bits would not be caught. Looking 
first, with his dark, soft eyes, on those who were try- 
ing to catch him, he then pointed with his nose up 
the road to Prescott. The poor animal's signs were 
his only language. With the least possible delay a 
dozen well-armed and well-mounted men galloped on 
the road toward Prescott, Two Bits leading the w^ay. 
The Apaches made good their escape. Two Bits guid- 
ed the rescuing party to the scene in time to save his 
fallen rider, by whose side he fell and immediately 
expired. A rude monument of huge boulders was 
erected on the spot to keep green in the memory of 
travelers the fidelity of Two Bits. This story is well 
authenticated. 



OVERLAND MAIL. 



For seven or eight years after the discovery of gold, 
the mail was received in California not oftener than 
once in two weeks and then by steamer by the way of 
Panama, heavy gales sometimes deterring it for sev- 
eral days. Looking toward the removal of this in- 
convenience the availability of an overland mail began 
to be considered by men of enterprise. The first 
mail route extending any considerable distance over 
the country west of the Missouri River, was estab- 
lished in the interest of the Mormons after their colonv 



General John A. Sutter. 263 

at Salt Lake had reached a flourishing and prosper- 
ous condition. This route was called "The Great Salt 
Lake Mail," embracing a distance of 1200 miles, most 
of which was the undisputed dominion of the buffalo, 
the antelope and the savage. The next step taken to 
bring the interior in touch with the Pacific colonies 
was by establishing a mail route, early in the '50's, 
between Sacramento and Salt Lake City. At a time a 
little less remote, three men were seen attired in buck- 
skin suits packing the mail on mules from Independ- 
ence to Salt Lake City. Each man was provided 
vvith two mules, one for his own convenience and one 
for the mail. They were between four and five weeks 
making the trip. In 1857-58 a mail route was so 
established as to accommodate Forts Kearney, Laramie 
an.d Bridger, covering a distance of 1200 miles. The 
mail was hauled by mule teams over the entire distance 
with but three relay stations. This mail, too, like most 
of the early mails, was characterized by grave and 
numerous irregularities, and yet irregular as it was 
the convenience it brought was of great moment. 

Following this was the Butterfield Overland Mail 
Company, which ought to receive more notice than 
can be afforded in this volume. The company entered 
into a contract with the United States Government to 
carry the mail from St. Louis to San Francisco, the 
contract being signed on the 15th day of September, 

1857. 



General John A. Sutter. 265 

This enterprise was gigantic in its inception, colos- 
sal in its development. Vast expenditures only could 
promise success. The route did not lie in a direct line 
across the Plains, but veering far to the south marked 
out an area somewhat crescent in shape. At Van 
Buren, on the Arkansas River opposite Fort Smith, 
500 m'iles from St. Louis, this and the Memphis mail 
met and proceeded along one common route to San 
Francisco, passing through the Chcctaw Nation's^ re- 
serve in the Indian Territory, crossing the Red River 
at Colvert's Ferry; ''thence across the prairies of 
northern Texas via Sherman, thence to Fort Chad- 
born on the Little Colorado in Texas." After leaving 
Sherman not a settlement was met for a distance of 
490 miles. On the 23rd of September the stage 
reached "Fort Belknap," in Texas, 820 miles out from 
St. Louis. Thence the route took in the Staked Plains, 
Pecos River, and Guadalupe Pass, thence to the Rio 
Grande River. The route led across Doubtful Pass, 
Tucson, Parima Indians' village on the Gila River, 
thence to Maricopa Wells, thence across the forty- 
mile desert, crossing the Colorado at ''Arizona City' 
(a few mud huts), passing Los Angeles and Mojave 
desert and on to San Francisco, covering a distance 
of two thousand seven hundred and thirty miles. 
The schedule time was twenty-five days, three days 
■ ahead of the ocean steamer. Just one year after the 
signing of the contract, a mail coach left St. Louis and 



266 The Life and Times of 

the Golden Gate simultaneously. Both coaches reached 
the objective point ahead oi schedule time. Great 
demonstrations were made at each terminus of the line. 
In St. Louis guns were fired, flags were raised, and 
bunting was disi)laye(l. The principal business streets 
were thronged with people eager to manifest thefr 
satisfaction and pleasure. In San Francisco the crowd 
was not less wide awake and active; there were bon- 
fires and illuminations in varicnis business centers in 
California. 

For carrying this semi weekly mail the Government 
paid six hundred thousand dollars per annum. This 
Mail Company had one hundred Concord coaches 
which were among the very best that ever adorned a 
public thoroughfare or bore a burden (jf human be- 
ings. The company was also provided with one 
thousand horses, five hundred mules and seven hundred 
and fifty men, of whom more than one hundred and 
fifty were em]3loye(l as drivers. The stage fare from 
St. Louis to San Francisco was one hundred dollars in 
gold. 

Four years after the Butterfield overland mail con- 
tract was entered into, a daily overland mail from At- 
chison to Hangtown, California, was established. 
These coaches, like those on the Butterfield route, were 
models of strength, convenience and beauty ; the horses 
were fine American stock, the best that could be found, 
and the mules were carefully selected. Skilled and 



General John A. Sutter. 267 

faithful drivers whose mettle had been tested and who 
were known to be eig"hteen carat, were employed. The 
meals along- this line were from fifty cents to two 
dollars each. To make the schedule time tlic drivers 
must perform the unprecedented task of covering one 
hundred miles every day, which performance stands 
out as preeminent skill, hardihood and ''pluck" when 
it is realized that there were mountains to conquer, 
streams to cross, and savages U) be met. This was 
called the central route. As on the Ijutterfield route, 
two coaches left simultaneously on the trial trip — one 
from St. Joseph, on the Missouri River, and one from 
the Sunset Sea. The time fixed upon for starting 
vv^as July I, 1861. Great were the demonstrations at 
each point. 



THE PONY EXPRESS. 



The 'Tony Express" was organized early in i860 
for the purpose of carrying letters across the country 
from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, 
in eight days. About sunset on the third day of April, 
i860, Johnnie Frey, a light, nervy rider, mounted on 
a black charger, left St. Joseph on the trial trip, gazed 
upon by the largest crowd of spectators that had ever 
assembled on the banks of the "Big Muddy." Not 
so much interest was shown in Macedonia when 
Alexander the Great vaulted into tlie saddle of the 



268 • Tlic Life and Tiinss < / 

spirited Bucephalus. At the moment this rider left 
St. Joseph for the West, Harry Roff, another rider, 
left an excited crowd at Sacramento and flew like 
the wind toward the Rising Sun. Frey's horse was 
jet black, and Roff's was milk white. 

The day on which the trial trip was to commence 
having been announced, the people of St. Joseph and 
the surrounding country made arrangements to wit- 
n.ess the spectacle. Interest in the enterprise awoke 
and rapidly increased as the appointed day drew^ near, 
when it ripened into enthusiasm. On April third St. 
Joseph and Sacramento, the terminal cities, were suit- 
ably decorated. Flags waved to the breeze, bunting 
hung out along the business streets, and the children 
of toil were ablaze with excitement and pleasure. 
Men, women and children came from the rural dis- 
tricts to enjoy the gala day. Many who were present 
on that memorable day are yet among the living. A 
few minutes before the time to start a brass band put 
in an appearance at the levee, in St. Joseph, where the 
ferry was in waiting to carry the rider across the 
stream. Elegantly dressed women, of graceful man- 
ners, were seen crossing the streets here and there and 
promenading the sidewalks. Bovs were mu^^rhing 
candy and amusing themselves with firecrackers, nnd 
the girls were chewing gum. Everybody was happy. 
Some men, I am told, were intoxicated, — with delight 
undoubtedly. The time was now up. The loud-voiced 



General John A. Sutter. 



269 



cannon made the announcement. The band played 
"Hail to the Chief," as the jet black horse, bearing his 
lithe rider stepped onto the ferry. Handkerchiefs 
waved and shouts of ''Hurrah for Johnnie Frey" re- 
verberated on the evening air, as horse and rider flew 
like the wind toward the Sunset Sea. 




THE PONY EXPRESS. 

W. H. Russell, of Leavenworth, Kansas, was the 
promoter of this pony express and furnished most of 
the means with which to place the enterprise on a 
working basis. Instead of using ponies, as would be 
indicated by the name of the organization, the animals 
were well-bred American horses of remarkable speed. 



270 The Life and Times of 

strength and endurance. Some of them, however, 
were bronchos, and the best of that kind obtainable. 
There were at this time only four military posts be- 
tween St. Joseph and the Pacific Ocean. Two hun- 
dred miles must be covered every twenty-four hours 
by the riders, forty of whom were going east, while 
as many more were going west. 

The weight of their letters was limited to fifteen 
pounds and five dollars was the price of carrying each 
half ounce. The post office department soon, how- 
ever, reduced the price to one dollar per half ounce. 
TwO' minutes were allowed to change horses, but not 
more than fifteen or twenty seconds were occupied. 
Many of the letters were written on tissue paper. The 
first 'Tony" west carried only eight letters. 

Jack Keetley rode at one time three hundred and 
forty miles without rest or sleep, covering the entire 
distance in thirty-one hours. He fell asleep at Ash 
Point and slept in the saddle all the way to Seneca, a 
distance of five miles. Melville Baugn rode a pony 
from Fort Kearney to Thirty-two-Mile Creek, where 
it was stolen and taken to Loup Fork. The rider having 
struck the thief's trail, recovered his pony and took 
him back to Fort Kearney where the letter pouch was 
in waiting. A few years afterwards he was hung for 
murder, somewhere in Kansas. Jim Moore, another 
rider, made two hundred and eighty miles in fourteen 
hours and forty-six minutes. 



General John A. Sutter. 271 

From a very able work by Messrs. Root and Connel- 
ley I quote the following story about William F. Cody, 
Buffalo Bill : "He has probably seen as many wild 
Indians as any one; and he has undoubtedly made 
more 'good Indians' than any other living man. He 
covered at one time one of the longest 'runs' ever 
made on the Tony Route' between the 'Big Muddy' 
and the great ocean. After riding his seventy-five 
miles and about to hand over bis mail pouch to the 
next rider, he found the latter dead, having been killed 
in a fight; so Cody volunteered to continue the 'run' 
eighty-five miles in addition to the seventy-five miles 
he had already ridden. The entire distance — remark- 
able as it may appear — was accomplished inside of 
schedule time. He then turned back and made the 
distance in to Red Buttes in due time, a continuous 
ride of over three hundred and twenty miles without 
rest, at an average gait of fifteen miles an hour." 

William James, a lad of seventeen, rode California 
mustangs. His station embraced sixty miles, and he 
made the round trip, one hundred and twenty miles, in 
twelve hours. Another rider, Charles Cliff, a few 
years later, in a fight with the Indians, received three 
balls in his body and twenty-seven in his clothes. He 
was employed at the time by a freighter who had nine 
wagons in his train and was besieged by one hundred 
Sioux warriors. 



272 The Life and Times of 

The pay of the riders was fifty dollars and up 
per month, and board. Some who rode through 
perilous and risky regions received one hundred and 
fifty dollars. They all rode day and night and through 
all kinds of weather. The average weight of the rid- 
ers, of whom there were not less than one hundred, 
was one hundred and thirty-five pounds. There were 
about five hundred saddle horses, some of which cost 
two hundred dollars a head. One hundred and ninety 
stations were kept up and as many men employed 
to tend them. Over this two thousand mile trail the 
ponies were distributed from nine to fifteen miles 
apart, the distance being regulated by the nature and 
condition of the road. The combined weight of sad- 
dle, bridle and empty leathern pouches was thirteen 
pounds. The transit of some of the heavy letters cost 
more than twenty-five dollars. In all this wild work 
but one pouch was ever lost, and fortunately that con- 
tained but little mail and that of comparatively little 
importance. The letters were wrapped in oiled silk. 

Some of the Indians between Salt Lake and the 
Sierra Nevada mountains went on the warpath, driv- 
ing away stock and burning stations; the Piutes and 
Shoshones taking an active part. Several station 
keepers were killed in these forays. Volunteers soon 
settled the outbreak. Stations were rebuilt and after 
some delay the business went bravely on ; but not until 
a vast sum of money had been expended. 



General John A. Sntter. 273 

President Lincoln's first inaugural address was car- 
ried from St. Joseph to Sacramento in seven days and 
seventeen hours. Antelope, deer and buffalo gazed 
upon the rider as he flew like the wind across the 
plains. The monotony of the long, dreary trail was 
unbroken for hundreds of miles save by the primitive 
stations which had been constructed in the interests 
of the Pony Express. Hitherto communication across 
the plains had been slow, — too slow to satisfy the needs 
of the people who were widely separated from friends 
and from business points. The Pony Express, inspir- 
ing new hopes, was hailed with acclaim. From a 
financial point of view it was not a success, so that 
this business enterprise ran its course within eighteen 
months. 



BEN HOLLIDAY. 



Benjamin Holliday was born in the State of Ken- 
tucky, near the Blue Licks, so often mentioned in 
the biography of Daniel Boone. He was a very re- 
markable man and an excellent one in a new country. 
Most of his life was spent in Missouri and on the 
plains, where he was engaged in. either merchandising 
or teaming. Mr. Holliday was the Napoleon of stage 
enterprises, for which work he was preeminently fitted, 
being fearless, energetic and intellectual. He amassed 
a large fortune while spending money freely if not 



274 'I'he Life and Times of 

wildly. Through love of adventure and with mar- 
velous business tact, he put himself at the head of the 
greatest stage lines in the world. Besides operating 
a network of stage lines, he was the sole owner of fif- 
teen ocean steamers. It may be truly said that Mr. 
Holliday made his fortune fairly. The time for trusts, 
for graft, for enslaving the poor, for legal theft and 
for robbing childhood of its youth, was yet to come. 

On one occasion when Mr. Holliday was on the 
Pacific Coast he received notice that his presence was 
highly important in New York City. Notifying his 
agents to have things ready along the line he set out 
on his Concord stage, covering two thousand miles in 
twelve days and two hours. 

His great wealth rapidly faded as the Union Pacific 
extended its rails toward the sea. In the beginning 
of the winter of 1856 he sold his interest in the over- 
land stage business to Wells, Fargo and Company and 
retired from that locality. Mr. Holliday' s history in 
its entirety is little less than a romance. He had 
thrilling adventures in his encounters with savages, 
and at other times when riding in his own stage was 
commanded to throw up his hands. He died in Port- 
land, Oregon, 1877. 



General John A. Sutter. 275 



FREIGHTING IN CALIFORNIA. 



Freighting to California during the great carnival 
of gold was not confined to the caravan enterprise. The 
canvases of freighters dotted the seas; barks from 
the South American states beat their way up to the 
Golden Gate and up the Sacramento River. Merchant- 
men from New York, Boston, and Liverpool doubled 
Cape Horn with San Francisco or Sacramento as their 
objective point. Picks, shovels and other mining ap- 
pliances were embraced in their traffic. The growing 
demand for farming implements had to be met. 
Houses were framed in Boston and raised in San Fran- 
cisco or Sacramento. On the first day of September, 
1849, only one year and six months after the dis- 
covery of gold, the following vessels were lying at the 
Sacramento wharf : barks, Praxitales, Joven, Harriet 
Newell, Whiton, Eliza Elvira, William Jay, Isabel and 
Croton; brigs, John Ender, Salito, Jackim, Viola, 
Sterling, North Star, Charlotte, Emily, Bourne, Al- 
mina, Cordelia and George Emery; schooners, Odd 
Fellow, Lola, Gazelle, General Lane, Pomona, An- 
thern and Catherine. 

When Marshall, in 1848, picked the first gold nug- 
get from the tail-race at Sutter's Mill, northern Cali- 
fornia was almost an unbroken solitude. There were 



276 Tlie Life and Times of 

few settlements within its boundaries and they were 
widely scattered. A man could ride all day on horse- 
back over a country of unsurpassed beauty and nor 
see a civilized man or dwelling. The population was 
chiefly in or near the Spanish missions and pre- 
sidios. Before the memorable year of '49 was past, 
the territory was ready to take its place as a sister 
state in the federal union. Hamlets dotted the great 
valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers; 
grain fields, waving in golden splendor, acknowledged 
the genius of husbandry. Freighting in California had 
grown to colossal proportions, and as Sacramento was 
the great commercial center, it was usually one of t'ne 
terminal points. In December of '49, teamsters com- 
manded fifty dollars per ton for hauling freight from 
Sacramento to Mormon Island, a distance of less than 
thirty miles. 

Soon after the discovery of the Comstock lode in 
Nevada, and before the transcontinental railroad was 
intersected by the railroad built through Carson Val- 
ley, the freighting from Sacramento to the foothills and 
over the Sierras to Virginia City was immense. Five 
hundred heav3^-laden wagons left the former ])lace 
daily. These wagons and trains were similar to those 
that freighted across the plains, which have been de- 
scribed on former pages. I will, however, note one 
or two differences. The freight teams in California 
usually drew two wagons in a train, wagon number 



General John A. Sutter. 



// 



two being attached to the rear of wagon number one, 
and denominated the ''back-action." The lead- 
trs carried a collection of bells, tastily arranged in 
chimes. These bells were secured to an arch whose 
ends were attached to the hames of the harness. These 
"merry chimes" were used less for adornment than for 
utility. The jingling being heard quite a distance 
tended to avert any difficulties that might arise 




A MINING TOWN. 

through the unexpected meeting of a team where 
passing would be difficult. 

A pack animal was called a ''miner's brig" and was 
very useful in those pioneer days. One man told me 
that wlien he was mining in the foothills in the Sier- 
ras in '49, he hired a "miner's brig" and went to Sac- 
ramento for "grub." He said he had never stowed 
a cargo on a miner's brig, and so to make his venture 
a success, he gave an expert a dollar and seventy-five 



278 The Life and Times of 

cents to superintend the loading. Not being able to 
reach home the first day out he was forced to camp 
at night on the trail, and fearing he might be unable 
to reload in the morning, he left the load on the horse 
all night and until he reached home the next day. 

In those days goods boxes were taken to pieces, 
stacked up and labeled '^choice lumber for sale." The 
dealer found ready sale for his ware at twelve and a 
half cents per foot, board measure, with no extra 
charge for nails and knot holes. 



BILL OF FARE. 



The following is taken from the Overland Stage to 

California, showing the price of a meal at a Hang- 
town, now Placerville, eating house in 1850: 

Soup. 

Bean $1 00 

Ox tail (short) I 50 

Roast. 

Beef, Mexican (prime cut) i 50 

Beef, up along i 00 

Beef, plain i 00 

Beef, with one potato (fair size) i 25 

Beef, tame, from the States i 50 

Vegetables. 

Baked beans, plain 75 



General John A. Sntter. 279 

Baked beans, greased $1 00 

TwO' potatoes (medium size) 50 

Two potatoes, peeled 75 

Entrees. 

Sauerkraut i 00 

Bacon, fried i 00 

Bacon, stuffed i 50 

Hash, low grade 75 

Hash, 18 carats i 00 

Game. 

Codfish balls, per pair 75 

Grizzly, roast I 00 

Grizzly, fried 75 

Jackass rabbit (whole) i 00 

Pastry. 

Rice pudding, plain 75 

Rice pudding, with molasses i 00 

Rice pudding, with brandy peaches 2 00 

Square meal, with dessert. 3 00 

Payable in advance. 
N. B. — Gold scales at the end of the bar. 

Be it remembered that when a meal was served 
by a fair-looking Caucasian girl, twenty-five cents was 
added. 



28o Tlic Life and Times of 



BULL FIGHTS. 



In 1850 an amphitheater, with an arena one hundred 
feet in diameter, was built in Sacramento City for the 
purpose of entertaining spectators with g-ladiatorial 
contests. A man sometimes entered the arena to con- 
tend with a Spanish bull; but the principal contests, 
like those of Wall Street, were between the ''bulls" 
and the "bears." A donkey, too, sometimes entered 
the prize ring to test the mettle of an adversary. This 
brute, stupid as he seemingly is, fights a desperate 
battle, not being outclassed in prowess by the bear. 
One of these long-eared personifications of stupidity 
fought several battles with a different bear each time 
and in every instance but one killed his antagonist. 
The manager of those entertainments employed sev- 
eral mounted vaqueros who were in attendance to 
save the life of a vanquished foe or to avert any calam- 
ity to which an accident or unexpected occurrence 
might tend. 

A Spanish bull and a bear once entered the arena 
to contend for the championship, when a portion of 
the wall between the pit and the arena gave way, ex- 
posing the audience to the rage of the infuriated ani- 
mals. Within the short interval of ten seconds from 
this occurrence three vaqueros, entermg che arena, 



General John A. Sutter. 281 

established themselves each on the corner of a triangle 
and with their lariats had the bull pinioned in the 
center. 

These barbarous exhibitions, like cockfights, flour- 
ished under Spanish rule and Spanish customs, but 
were too barren of sentiment to please people of more 
civilized habits, and the amusement early waned under 
the influx of Americans. There was a rough-and-ready 
air about the immigrants in California and society 
did not, at that time, savor of refined elegance com- 
mon to the coteries of Madam Recamier; but there 
was at all times a strong undercurrent of grand good 
sense and noble manhood, and a golden chord perme- 
ated the breast, from which tones of sympathy 
were easily swept. An ugly man after surveying him- 
self awhile in the glass remarked, "Not handsome, 
but d — d genteel." 



SUTTER'S PORTRAIT. 



In 1855, the Legislature of California enacted a law 
appropriating $2,500 to purchase of William S. Jenett, 
Esq., the full length portrait of Major-General John 



Augustus Sutter. 



282 The Life and Times of 



BRYANT DINES WITH SUTTER. 



When Edwin Bryant first came to California, he 
and a friend accepted an invitation to dine with Gen- 
eral Sutter. Bryant, being eminent authority, the 
reader may be pleased to read what he says of it. I will 
quote from him. He says : 

"Captain Sutter's dining room and his table furni- 
ture do not present a very luxurious appearance. The 
room is unfurnished, with the exceptions of a com- 
mon deal table standing in the center, and some benches 
which are substituted for chairs. The table when 
spread presented a correspondingly primitive aspect of 
viands. The first course consisted of good soup served 
to each guest in a china bowl with silver spoons. The 
bowls, after they had been used for this purpose, were 
taken away and cleansed by the Indian servant, and 
were afterwards used as tumblers from which we 
drank our water. The next course consisted of two 
dishes of meat, one roasted and one fried, and both 
highly seasoned with onions. I am thus particular, 
because I wish to convey as accurately as I can the 
style and mode of living, in California, of intelligent 
gentlemen of foreign birth who have been accustomed 
to all the luxuries of the most refined civilization." 



General John A. Sutter. 28,^ 



FIRST PAPER AND FIRST JUDICIARY IN SACRAMENTO. 



On the 28th of April, 1849, the 'Tlacer Times" was 
commenced at the Fort ; a weekly, printed on foolscap, 
and E. C. Kemble was the editor, compositor, printer 
and publisher. In the same year, after the necessary 
preliminaries, H. A. Schoolcraft was elected Alcalde, 
and A. M. Turner, Sheriff. For awhile this consti- 
tuted the Judiciary of Northern California. 



GAMBLING. 



Gambling was soon introduced into Sacramento City 
where it was practiced on a colossal scale. Many men 
from the United States had earned a few hundred dol- 
lars which they brought to Sacramento to send to 
those who were dependent upon them ; but while still 
possessed of this treasure and the noble intention 
of sending it to those to whom they were bound by 
the fondest memories and by the strongest ties of 
kindred, they stepped into these gaming places and 
there remained until fortune, hopes and happiness 



284 The Life and Times of 



A JOYOUS REUNION. 



General Sutter paid a man ten dollars a day and ex- 
penses to go to Switzerland and bring his family to 
California. The distinguished pioneer welcomed to 
his adopted home his family and numerous forms 
^and faces familiar to his early years and made sacred 
by tender recollections. After an absence of eighteen 
years from Fatherland, the most of which time was 
spent afar from scenes of civilization, what must have 
been the happiness with which he greeted those who 
were endeared to him by the sacred ties of consanguin- 
ity, in the country he had learned to love so well. The 
mansion on his princely Hock estate will echo to the 
sound of happy voices. ''Hock" was the name of an 
Indian tribe that lived near by and for whom the 
estate was named. 



NOTICE OF SUTTER. 



The Placerville Times of July 31, 1850, has the 
following: ''We regret extremely to learn through 
our friend Dr. Lawrence, who has been some time in 
attendance upon the family of Captain Sutter, that 
they continue afflicted with severe illness. The Cap- 
tain himself, his wife and servants are suffering from 



General John A. Sutter. 285 

attacks of fever. It is very desirable that, under the 
present circumstances, the}^ should be undisturbed by 
the visits of friends and acquaintances. His generous 
and hospitable disposition makes all welcome to his 
mansion, but it is impossible for him to entertain at 
present, and he earnestly desires a respite. The doctor 
has been authorized to communicate this to the public. 
All those persons having business transactions with 
him, are desired to call on his agent and attorney, 
John S. Fowler, Esq." 



SUTTER'S SAW. 



Mrs. Jane Cooper, the widow of Mr. John H. Coop- 
er, has recently presented to the Sacramento Pioneer 
Society a saw used in the construction of Sutter's 
Fort and also the historic mill at Coloma. It is seven 
feet in length. Captain Sutter presented it to Mark 
Stuart in 1848 and it has been in possession of the 
family ever since. On the Stuart premises, Twenty- 
ninth and B streets, still lie the stones used in grinding 
bark for Sutter's tannery, April, 1849. 



;86 The Life and Times of 



MARRIAGE OF SUTTER'S DAUGHTER. 



The marriage of Mr. Engler to Miss Sutter took 
place at the Hock Farm and was largely attended, 
more than two hundred guests being present to wit- 
ness the ceremony, which is said to have been very 
imposing and of unusual interest. The papers of 
Sacramento and Marysville speak of it as having been 
a magnificent affair. The press of other cities made 
pleasing allusions to it. 

Miss Sutter was said to be a lady of elegant man- 
ners and rare beauty ; presenting miich of the fascinat- 
ing personality for which her noble father was dis- 
tinguished. The beautiful sentiment that adorns the 
Switzer's character is displayed in the following 
occurrence : A Swiss army in a foreign service, on 
hearing the enemy sing a patriotic song, became so 
moved by its simplicity and pathos, that they dis- 
banded, notwithstanding the rigor of martial law, and 
retired to their homes among the Alpine crags and 
vine-clad vales of their native land. 



General John A. Sutter. 287 



PETER LASSEN 



Who was born on the 7th day of August, 1800, in 
Copenhagen, Denmark, merits a notice in this volume. 
In 1824 he came to Boston and after working several 
months in New England towns at blacksmithing, a 
trade he learned in his native country, he moved to 
Katesville, Missouri, where he renewed his association 
with Vulcan. The slow growth and tame appearance 
of that great and good state, not being in harmony 
with his venturesome and progressive spirit, he left 
Missouri in 1839 in company with twenty-seven men 
and two women who crossed the plains, reaching Ore- 
gon in autumn, where he remained till spring. The 
two women mentioned were the wives of two of the 
party. 

In May a vessel left Oregon with some English 
missionaries who designed touching California on 
their return. On this vessel Lassen and several of his 
comrades shipped, putting into Bodega. California be- 
ing a Mexican province the commandant sent a squad 
of soldiers to prevent a landing. The Russians, being 
in possession of the place and having a strong military 
force, the governor ordered the Mexican soldiers to 
leave the place without delay. They left. 



288 The Life and Times of 

When Lassen and the other adventurers left Mis- 
souri, they expected to reach a settlement somewhere 
in the Sacramento Valley where there were Americans 
and other English-speaking people. When they dis- 
embarked at Bodega they found themselves, with 
depleted coffers, in an inhospitable country without 
passports or the means of procuring them. Being 
men with hearts for any fate, in this dilemma they ad- 
dressed in substance the following communication to 
Thomas O. Larkin, the American consul at Monterey. 
William Wiggins, one of the party, acted as aman- 
uensis . 

Dear Sir : — We, the undersigned citizens of the 
United States, through a desire to settle in this coun- 
try and naturalize to its government, landed several 
days ago in Bodega. Being unable for want of funds 
to remain long here and for want of passports to leave, 
we appeal to you, Sir, for advice and such protection 
as gentlemen of respectable pursuits are entitled to. 
We are under protection of the Russians until, we hear 
from you. 

We are assured it will please you to give this mat- 
ter as early attention as conditions will permit. If we 
cannot settle in this country we ask permission to go to 
our own. Passports have been refused us by those who 
are in position to grant them. If you. Sir, are power- 
less to bestow the relief sought we shall be forced to 



General John A. Sutter. 289 

consider ourselves in an enemy's country and to use 

such defense as our arms may furnish. 

With great respect, we are, 

David Button 

James Benson 
Peter Lassen 
William Wiggins 
Levi Wilder 
Tosiah Wright. 
After remaining two months at Bodega they went 
to Yerba Buena, whence Lassen went to San Jose, 
where he spent the winter at smithing. In the ensu- 
ing spring he invested in some land near Santa Cruz, 
on which he built a sawmill. After running this mill 
awhile, with varying results, he sold out his Santa 
Cruz possessions for one hundred mules and a few 
horses which he drove to New Helvetia and grazed 
near Sutter's Fort. He worked at his trade for Sut- 
ter, receiving stock in payment for his services. 

In 1843 he and James Burheim accompanied John 
Bidwell in pursuit of a party who were bound for 
Oregon and who had stolen some animals from New 
Helvetia. Finding the stock in charge of the party 
that stole it, Bidwell asked one of the men where they 
got it. The thief estimating the prowess of Bidwell 
and his sturdy comrades replied, ''That stock. Sir, does 
not belong to us and we will be glad if you will take 
it away, for it has annoyed us greatly." On this trip 



290 The Life and Times of 

Bidwell mapped the Sacramento Valley and named 
the streams. He afterwards regretted that he gave the 
name '\Stony Creek" to a stream so grand. Mr. Las- 
sen being enamored of the country he saw in the 
upper Sacramento Valley, applied to Governor Michel- 
torena for a grant of land which he afterwards ob- 
tained. This grant was watered by Deer Creek and is 
in Tehama County. He settled upon the grant in 1845 
and laid out a town which he called ''Benton City." 
Although now settled quite a distance from Sutter's 
Fort, he was in frequent communication with New 
Helvetia, keeping himself as much in touch with the 
great adventurer as possible. This beautiful grant, 
this princely possession soon passed out of Lassen's 
control. The largest vineyard in the world now adorns 
that empire. 

When Gillespie w^as trying to overtake Col. Fremont 
who was on his way to Oregon in 1846, he was fur- 
nished by Sutter with* horses and a guide to enable him 
to reach this place. Here Gillespie bought some ani- 
mals of Lassen and hired Neal to guide him over Fre- 
mont's trail. 'Teter Lassen's Place," like Sutter's 
Fort, became known to the country as a landmark. 
Sutter in his diary says: ''When they (alluding to the 
Lassen party) told the Russian governor that they 
wanted to join me he received them very kindly and 
hospitably, furnishing them with fine horses, new 
saddles, etc., at a very low rate and gave them direc- 



General John A. Sutter. 291 

lions where about they would have to travel without 
being seen by some Spaniards." 

In 1849 Lassen, with some stock and other supplies, 
went into Nevada as far as the Humboldt River to 
meet the emigrants who had crossed the plains en 
route to California and were, some of them, in want. 
These supplies he sold to those who were able to buy 
and gave to those who were not. 

One party who had quite a large train desiring to 
settle not far from the "Peter Lassen Place" of which 
they had heard, Lassen told them they could 
get there by a route that would shorten their journey 
by two hundred miles; whereupon he was solicited 
to lead the way, which he undertook to do. 
They veered to the right of the old trail and went by 
Black Rock Springs. The party undertook to go to 
the Buttes which afterwards took Lassen's name. 
Had they done this, the undertaking would have been 
a success. These Buttes could be plainly seen from 
Black Rock Springs. However, intervening timber 
that embowered the foothills gradually hid their snowy 
brows till the view was entirely lost. The party 
mistaken in their course journeyed as far north of their 
objective point as they would have been south of it 
had they taken the old emigrant road to Sutter's Fort. 
Lassen, sighting the Buttes, saw the mistake he had 
made and sought to correct it by going directly 
toward them. The party feeling sore over the mistake. 



292 Tlic Life and Times of 

the vast amount of unnecessary hardship they had 
endured, the time lost and the toil they were then un- 
able to avert, were irritable and impatient. However, 
Lassen led them on toward the ''Promised Land.'' 

Before they reached the Buttes, which happily were 
almost continuously in sight, storms began to gather 
and snow^ sometimes whitened the ground. Ere reach- 
ing the summit of the range they found the snow so 
deep as to be cumbersome, retarding their headv/ay and 
hastening to a crisis the half-famished condition of 
ilieir animals. Trees were felled by the ax-men that 
the cattle might browse. Here the party ni their dark 
forebodings and consequent rashness neared a condi- 
tion of incipient mutiny. They hurled their impreca- 
tions at Lassen. A few hot-headed ones even threatened 
to hang him. In this emergency his conscientious- 
ness and honesty of purpose imbued him with cour- 
age for which he was justly renowned. 

After delivering to tlie party an informal address in 
which he reviewed with much feeling the toil they had 
nobly endured, and the obstacles they had grandly 
overcome, he advised them that the same heroism prop- 
erly directed would in a few days lead them to the goal 
of their honorable ambition. ''I have to admit," he said, 
''that the difficulty and disappointment you have met 
and the tasks you have performed would dishearten the 
average man. But, gentlemen, you are not of that 
class. You are heroes. Assured I am that not one 



General John A. Snttcr. 293 

of you can be persuaded to relinquish his loyal' y 
to your earnest pursuits when you are about to enjoy 
the fruition of your early hopes. Go with me," he 
continued, "to the top of that hill and if i do not show 
you Sacramento Valley, you may hang me* if that is 
your determination." Two or three men were dele- 
gated by the party to go with him. Long before they 
reached the top of the hill they signaled back that the 
valley w^as in sight. From this on, Lassen was a 
champion. How^ changeable is man. 

Lassen rendered the United States good service in 
tlie conquest of California and was appointed Indian 
agent by the government. He spent the closing years 
of his life in Honey Lake Valley. Late in the fifties 
he, Mr. Glasscock and another man went to Black 
Rock Springs in Nevada to prospect for silver. He 
was murdered in his cabin in 1859. He was buried 
about five miles from Susanville in Lassen county. His 
grave is in the shade of the largest pine trees m that 
section of the country. In honor of this pioneer, ad- 
venturer, patriot and honest man's friend, Lassen 
county and one of the majestic peaks of the Sierras 
were fittingly named. A monument bearing his in- 
scription marks his last resting place. 

Peter Lassen's name like that of Fremont, Sutter. 
General Bidwell and a score of others is so linked with 
the pioneer days of the great and beautiful State of 
California that it will live on, gathering splendor 
through passing cycles of time. ? 



294 ^^^'^(^ L^fc and Times of 



JAMES LICK. 



In recoRling the names of men whose benefactions 
make them remembered and loved, one is conscious of 
acting a noble part. If we, ourselves, cannot be bene- 
factors, be it ours to appreciate and commend benefi- 
cence in others. All good men have a kind remem- 
brance of him whO' gives generously of his time and 
means tO' improve the condition of man. 

In compiling this work I esteem it not only a great 
pleasure but a duty to pen a kindly remark in regard 
to one of the world's greatest benefactors, James Lick. 
Conscious I am that gifted pens have, long since, traced 
the outline of his virtues in abler productions than 
mine, and that the historian whose talents will unfold 
in an age more remote from his time than the present, 
will record his fame in characters of living light. To 
say that Mr. Lick was a Californian is too narrow to 
be just. James Lick was an American. The world, it 
is certain, will fix his home on the planet. 

James Lick was born in Fredericksburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, August 25, 1796, where he received a common 
school education. Early in life he obtained employ- 
ment as an organ and piano maker in Planover, Pa., 
and then in Baltimore, Md. In 1820 he went into 
business in Philadelphia, but a year later he emigrated 



General John A. Sutter. 295 ^ 

to Buenos Ayres, South America, where for some 
time he engaged in the manufacture and sale of mus- 
ical instruments. Subsequently he went to Valparaiso 
and other places in South America, whence, in 1847, 
he went to California, where he invested heavily in 
real estate, and built a flouring mill at San Jose at an 
expense of $200,000. This mill, I am told, was fin- 
ished with fine tropical woods embracing rosewood 
and mahogany and was called Lick's Mill. He spent 
the last years of his life in San Francisco, where for 
a long time he was President of the Society of Califor- 
nia Pioneers. He died October i, 1876, leaving by 
will some $5,000,000 for various philanthropic pur- 
poses. He left $60,000 for the erection of a bronze 
monument in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, in- 
scribed, in letters of gold, to the memory of the im- 
mortal bard, Francis Scott Key, who wrote the ''Star- 
Spangled Banner." On this monument the entire 
poeni, so dear to every American heart, is engraved 
also in letters of gold. In building this monument the 
great philanthropist not only endeared himself to every 
American who loves his country, but he built to his 
own name a monument that is impervious to the shafts 
of forgetfulness. 

In 1884 the trustees made a cash distribution as 

follows : 

For the Protestant Orphan Asylum in San Fran- 
cisco, $25,000. 



296 The Life and Times of 

To the trustees of the Ladies' Protective and Relief 
Society of San Francisco, $25,000. 

To the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco, for 
the purchase of scientific and mechanical works, 
$10,000. 

The Pioneer Hall in San Francisco and the Acad- 
emy of Sciences were also founded by Mr. Lick. 

To the trustees of the Society for the Prevention of 
Cruelty to Animals, of San Francisco, $10,000. 

For the young- and helpless, he gave to three orphan 
asylums $25,000 each. 

For the aged and needy ladies who are unable to 
support themselves and who have no resources of their 
own, he founded an institution called the Old Ladies' 
Home, with $100,000. 

For the health and comfort of the people he caused 
tc be expended $150,000 for the erection and mainte- 
nance of free baths in the city of San Francisco, the 
same to be forever maintained for the free use of the 
public. 

To educate boys and girls in the practical arts of 
life, he founded and endowed the School of Mechani- 
cal Arts, in San Francisco, with $450,000. The 
school is to be open to the youths born in California. 

To the people of the world he built and equipped, 
at a cost of $700,000, an observatory having an ob- 
jective glass of 36 inches diameter clear of aperture, 
the largest lens in the world. As may be imagined, a 



General John A. Sutter. 297 

vast amount of money was expended in an effort to 
produce this objective before the work was accom- 
phshed. Clark and Son, who had just constructed the 
Russian Pulkowa objective, which had a diameter of 
30 inches, doubted very much whether an objective 36 
inches in diameter could be obtained and whether the 
same would not yield by flexure when placed in the 
tube. Fiel and Sons, of Paris, undertook the task. 
After nineteen trials and a lapse of some two years, 
they again inidertook it and succeeded. Some time in 
October, 1887, they reported that the glasses were 
made ; immediately thereafter a Pullman passenger car 
was especially prepared and placed in readiness to re- 
ceive them, and in this car, with greatest care, they 
were transported across the continent to Mount Ham- 
ilton. Warner and Swazey of Cleveland, Ohio, made 
the mounting machinery and the Union Iron Works 
made the steel floor and great dome. 

The great observatory was erected on Mount Ham- 
ilton, at an elevation of four thousand two hundred 
and nine feet above the sea, a site selected by Mr. 
Lick. The grounds, embracing two thousand five 
hundred and thirty-nine acres on the top and slopes of 
Mount Hamilton, were acquired as follows : Mr. Lick 
purchased one hundred and forty-nine acres; the 
United States donated two thousand and thirty acres; 
the State of California three hundred and twenty acres, 
and R. F. Morrow forty acres. 



298 The Life and Times of 

The roadway to the top of the mountain was con- 
structed by Santa Clara County in the year 1876, at a 
cost of $78,000. 

In June, 1888, the building with all the instruments 
and equipments, was turned over to the regents of the 
Ijniversity of California. 

Mr. Lick appropriated $20,000 for the erection of a 
Home Memorial at Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. 

To erect the Paine Memorial Hall in Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts, Mr. Lick gave $60,000. This hall, which 
is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Paine, is to be 
open for the discussion of all political, religious and 
scientific topics. 

And finally, all of his means, not otherwise appro- 
priated, was to be equally divided between the Pioneers 
of California and the Academy of Sciences in San 
Francisco for the purposes stated in the bequest. 

I have endeavored very briefly to state in this 
sketch some facts that every one of my readers will be 
glad to know ; and, knowing them, will cherish a sense 
of gladness inspired by the recollection that they lived 
in the age, in the century, in the country, of him who 
added splendor to grandeur by crowning Mount Ham- 
ilton with glory that will never dim. 



General John A. Sntter. 2c^q 



DEATH OF E. V. SUTTER. 



On February 22, 1883, Mayor Bartlett of San Fran- 
cisco, afterwards Governor of California, received 
from the Secretary of State at Washington, D. C, a 
communication relating to the death of Emil V. Sut- 
ter, at Ostend, Belgium, July 3, 1881. The de- 
ceased was the son of General John A. Sutter. The 
Secretary of State enclosed a photograph of the de- 
ceased, and letters showing that he had arrived at 
Ostend from Havre, July i, 1881. He intended to 
go to London in a few days, thence to the United 
States, but was taken suddenly ill and died on the night 
of the third of July. He had taken a room at Hotel 
Bellevue, where he registered his name, and where he 
died. The deceased was for many years engaged in 
business in San Francisco as notary public, and was 
a member of the Pioneer Society. He visited Europe 
for the purpose of disposing of some mines. 

Just twenty-seven years prior to the death of this 
son at Ostend the celebrated ''Ostend Manifesto." al- 
ready referred to, was issued at the same place. 



300 The Life and Times of 



LAST DAYS OF GENERAL J. A. SUTTER. 



Unwilling to live longer amid the scenes of his mis- 
fortunes, General Sutter in 1868 took an affectionate 
leave of the country he loved so well and foimd a 
new home with the Moravians in the quiet town of 
Lititz in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His son, 
J. A. Sutter, Jr., had been for many years a United 
States Consul at Acapulco, Mexico, and had married 
a Mexican lady. The General feeling a deep interest 
in his grandchildren removed the two grand-daughters 
to Lititz where they would be favored with better edu- 
cational advantages. This circumstance, it is thought, 
was among the considerations that induced him to 
adopt that place as a future home. 

The simplicity, too, of the Moravian society and the 
quiet of the town were grateful and soothing to the 
distinguished adventurer in the evening of his days. 
His life, in his new home, was peaceful; and, had he 
been still possessed of his estates so beautiful and 
princely, it would have been tranquil and serene. The 
water of the Lititz Springs was healing to his pdiysi- 
cal ills, rheumatic in character, from which he had 
been a great sufferer. In 1871, he built, for himself 
and wife, a house where they continued to live until 
the close of his life. 



General John A. Sutter. 301 

While at Washington, D. C, in 1880 vainly endeav- 
oring to secure the passage of a bill, in Congress, pro- 
viding for a partial compensation for the services he 
had rendered the United States and for the property 
of which he had been despoiled by the American peo- 
ple and by the United States authorities, he died. He 
had for years entertained the vain hope of some day 
receiving some part of what he justly claimed as his 
due. The adjourning of Congress without re:ogniz- 
ing his claim was an act of ingratitude that broke his 
heart. 

The funeral services were conducted in the Moravian 
church at Lititz, Rev. Charles Nagle of Philadelphia, 
officiating. Among the General's friends, in his palm- 
ier days in the West, who were present were Gen- 
eral Fremont and General H. F. Gibson, who re- 
counted with much feeling and force the eminent 
services the deceased had rendered his country and the 
ingratitude that froze the genial current of his soul. 

His demise was informally announced by the play- 
ing of trombones in the streets, as is the custom of the 
Moravian society. Workmen, ceasing a moment from 
toil, listened quietly and respectfully to the music, 
gently remarking, "The horns are blowing. Some one 
has gone home." 



302 The Life and Times of • 

INSCRIPTION. 
GENERAL JOHN A. SUTTER, 

BORN FEBRUARY 28TH, 1803, 

AT KANDERN, BADEN. 
DIED, JUNE 17TH, 1880, 
AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 

REQUIESCAT IN PACE. 

ANNA SUTTER, NEE DUBELT 

BORN SEPTEMBER I5TH, 1805. 

IN SWITZERLAND. 

DIED, JANUARY I9TH, 1881, 

AT LITITZ. 

Extract from a private letter written by Mrs. S. O. 
Houghton, nee Eliza P. Donner, daughter of Donner, 
c-ne of the Donner Party, whose sad fate has been so 
often told. 

"I have been sad, oh ! so sad since tidings flashed 
across the continent telling the friends of General Sut- 
ter to mourn his loss. In tender and loving thought I 
have followed the remains to his home, have stood by 
his bier, touched his icy brow, brushed back his snowy 
locks, and still it is hard for me to realize that he is 
dead; that he who in my childhood became my ideal 
of all that is generous, noble and good; he who has 
•ever awakened the warmest gratitude of my nature, 
is to be laid away in a distant land; but I must not 
yield to this mood longer. God has only harvested 
the ripe and golden grain. Nor has he left us com- 
fortless, for recollection, memory's faithful messen- 
ger, will bring from her treasury, records of deeds 
so noble, that the name of General Sutter will be 



General JoJin A. Suffer. 303 

stamped in the hearts of all people, so long as Califor- 
nia has a history. Yes, his name will be written in 
letters of sunlight on Sierra's snowy mountain sides, 
will be traced on the clasps of gold which rivet the 
rocks of our State, and will be arched in transparent 
characters over the g'ate th^at gu'ards our western 
tides. All who see this land of the sunset will read, 
and know, and love the name of John A. Sutter, who 
fed the hungry, clothed the naked and comforted the 
sorrowing children of California's pioneer days." 



GOVERNOR LOWE TO CONGRESS. 



State of California, Executive Department, 

Sacramento, October 6, 1866. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States : 

The bearer of this, Major-Gen. Sutter, was one of 

the early pioneers of this coast, and by his industry, 

bravery and indomitable energy, did more to subdue 

the savage tribes and encourage settlement than any 

other man. His name and fame are world wide, not 

only in connection with his early adventures, but also 

as being the cause of the discovery of gold in this 

State ; gold having first been discovered in a mill-race 

which he was having constructed. His kindness and 

generosity to the early emigrants who arrived here 



304 Tlic Life and Times of 

are proverbial. Although possessed of large grants of 
land ceded to him by the Mexican Government at the 
date of the acquisition of this territory by the United 
States, the delays and expenses incident to the legal 
adjudication of these titles have stripped him of all 
his property, leaving him in his old age comparatively 
penniless. 

In view of these considerations, this State at the 
last session of the legislature granted him an annuity 
of $3,000 per annum for five years. He now has it 
in contemplation to ask Congress for some recognition 
with compensation and I earnestly commend his claims 
to the favorable consideration of Congress. 

Very respectfully your obt. servt. 

Frederick F. Lowe, 
Governor, California. 



AN ALTA EDITORIAL. 



The following article, so full of sentiment and so 
ably written, is taken from the Daily Alta, San Fran- 
cisco, May 12, 1879: 

"No one of the large number of men and women 
who came to California during the days of Forty-nine, 
whether their route was by Cape Horn, via the Isth- 
mus, through Mexico or over the Plains, need be re- 
minded of the privations they endured, the fatigue. 



General John A. Sutter. 305 

danger, weariness and hunger they too often experi- 
enced. And many can but remember, gratefully, the 
reception they received from certain persons already 
residing in this country. Weary, worn, ragged, some 
on foot, having traveled in that manner after losing 
their teams ; hungry, desolate, adrift in a strange land, 
among strangers; they cannot have forgotten the 
kindly face and generous heart, the pleasant welcome 
and open hand they met when they met General Sutter, 
at Sutter's Fort, or other places. They w^ell remember, 
they cannot forget, how the honest old Swiss Captain 
figuratively poured oil upon their bruises, bound up 
their wounds and literally fed and clothed them. He 
had proceeded them by years. He had crossed the con- 
tinent seeking a new home, a new Switzerland, a new 
Versailles, on the Pacific Coast, not induced by the 
enticements of placers or gold-loaded quartz, for the 
outside world was ignorant of their existence here. 

''He had come here for a new home, and had made 
one. When the incoming gold-hunters struck the val- 
ley of the Sacramento, they were as ragged as beg- 
gars, as hungry as wolves, as poor as Lazarus — many 
of them. But they found in General Sutter a kind 
friend, a most hospitable host, a free, open-handed, 
benevolent philanthropist, who shared freely his goods 
with the needy immigrants, and scores and hundreds 
were made hopeful if not happy, through the kindly 
treatment of this old soldier, this grand old simple- 



3o6 The Life and Times of 

hearted Pioneer. But how was he rewarded? His 
grants of land from the Mexican Government became 
the object of legal corsairs; he was lawed to death; 
one by one his estates were taken from him, his prop- 
erty confiscated, his exchec|uer made bankrupt by con- 
tinuous strain of resisting the piratical forays made 
upon his possessions; until after years of useless con- 
tention, the lawyer, the land pirates, the courts, suc- 
ceeded in robbing him of every bit of the grand do- 
main once his; and, finally, in turning him, in his old 
age, adrift on the tide of time, an outcast from his 
own home, his own lands, his own house, from the 
property he had bought, the house he had built, the 
fortune he had made, a poor old man; like Lear, his 
gray hair thrust out into the tempest, a sport for the 
pitiless winds of poverty — poverty in his old age. 

'*In obedience to the dictates of humanity, the legis- 
lature of this state has appropriated a certain sum 
for the benefit and support of this grand old Pioneer, 
as a slight recompense for the splendid property and 
fortune of which he was robbed, with as little refer- 
ence to justice as if his lands and goods had been 
seized by pirates, professionally such. No amount of 
argument or reasoning, citation of cases and prece- 
dents, can make it otherwise. He was rich ; he com- 
mitted no crime; he offended no law; but the land- 
grabber, the land-lawyer went for him and his pos- 
sessions, and they left him a beggar. And now, in 



General John A. Sutter. 307 

his old age, driven by poverty, and some faint hopes 
growing fainter as the days grow few and fewer, he 
has left the state of his long love, his high hopes, his 
own grand ambition, laying his humble petition be- 
fore Congress, asking only a moderate allowance from 
the country's treasury, which through him has been 
enriched hundreds of millions of dollars in gold that, 
but for his enterprise, had still remained hidden in the 
beds and banks of the rivers of California, in her 
quartz ledges, in the hidden recesses of gold and sil- 
ver in this Pacific Coast, as well as in Australia, -New 
Zealand and other auriferous lands. Now a gentle- 
man in Congress has offered a bill granting the good 
old Pioneer, the pleasant gentleman, the robbed and 
impoverished man, a grant of fifty thousand dollars. 
That would not be one-twentieth, nay one-hundredth 
part of the fortune of which he has been despoiled. 
Now let us see whether our Government has any soul 
and sense of gratitude left in it." 



3o8 The Life and Times of 



THE FORT IN RUINS. 



Of the great throng of adventurers who rushed into 
Cahfornia in '49 headed for the gold fields, many 
appeared to know but little, and care less, about the 
property rights of individual owners. As heretofore 
shown they appropriated to their own use, things 
which did not belong to them, without even inquiring 
after the owner or thanking him if known to them. 
They seemed to think Providence had provided the 
good things for the special purpose of relieving their 
wants and necessities. For awhile the increase of 
lawlessness kept pace with the increase of immigra- 
tion. Those people left home and the charms of civil- 
ized and refined life, and braved the perils incident to 
a wearisome journey, over streams, mountains and 
plains, determined to correct, if possible, the deranged 
condition of their finance. Their eagerness in the 
pursuit of gain froze the better elements of their na- 
ture and avarice captured their souls. Many, how- 
ever, are the exceptions to this rule. 

The adobe brick, (brick made of adobe soil and 
dried in the sun,) lumber and other materials used in 
constructing and finishing the fort, were removed 
piecemeal therefrom to be used illicitly elsewhere un- 
der the sanction of greed. Smaller quantities were 



General John A. Sutter. 309 

borne away by others through a cahii and innocent 
desire to possess some relic of the distinguished land- 
mark, and to adorn a cabinet of curios. Sometimes it 
was a piece of wood, a scrap of iron which had served 
some purpose there, or a nail on which one could fancy 
Sutter, Fremont or Carson may possibly have hung a 
coat or a hat, a piece of a stool, not on which "Dante 
sat," but Ringgold, Dana or Rotchoff, in the palmy 
days of long ago. When the fugitive, pale and pant- 
ing, followed by his murderous pursuers, entered the 
Fort, he felt as I suppose a saint will feel when he con- 
cludes the gauntlet of life and enters the new Jerusalem 
in the "sweet by and by." 

At the fort the hungry v/ere fed, the houseless were 
sheltered and the traveler found rest. 

At a meeting of delegates from various Pioneer So- 
cieties of California, held in Sacramento City on Jan- 
uary 12, 1 88 1, San Francisco, Marysville, Oroville, 
Vallejo, Sacramento, Amador and Stockton were rep- 
resented. 

David Meeker, Esq., was called to the chair. The 
object of this convention, he said, was to consider the 
subject of erecting a monument to the memory of 
General John A. Sutter. At this convention the sub- 
ject of restoring Sutter's Fort to its original condition 
and appearance was taken up and discussed. In the 
course of this interesting debate it was claimed by 
some of the speakers that but for the liberty-loving 



310 The Life and Times of 

spirit and firmness of Sutter, General Castro would 
have driven the Americans out of California; that his 
generous and far-reaching influence sustained by his 
fort was the sole protection of the early American 
adventurers in California. To honor and perpetuate the 
memory of this explorer and philanthropist by erect- 
ing a suitable monument and restoring the fort is the 
duty of California — the duty of America — the duty of 
the world. How shall we, how can we who have wit- 
nessed, yea experienced, the hospitality of this grand 
man, refuse to give this measure our hearty support? 
The Pioneers, realizing the service the old fort had 
been to them, continued to agitate the subject of re- 
storing it to its original condition. It is now in good 
repair. 



General John A. Sutter. 311 



SUTTER RELIEF FUND, 



At the convening of the Cahfornia legislature iff 
1864, Hon. J. P. Buckley introduced a bill in the Sen- 
ate providing for the relief of General John A. Sutter. 
The bill became a law, having immediate effect, and 
provided for the appropriation of $15,000 out of any 
money in the treasury of the State not otherwise ap- 
propriated, and to be drawn in monthly installments of 
$250 each for five years, for the benefit of Sutter and 
his heirs; and in the event of his death his heirs were 
to receive the same monthly installment until sucn 
appropriation be exhausted. 

In the winter of 1869-70 Hon. W. E. Eichelroth in- 
troduced a bill in the Assembly providing further relief 
for Sutter. This bill, providing an appropriation of 
$250 per month for two years, also passed and be- 
came a law. 

In the winter of 1872 a similar bill was introduced in 
the Senate by Hon. J- A. Duffy ; and another in the 
Assembly by Hon. B. C. Northup, in 1874, both of 
which were passed and approved and went into im- 
mediate effect. 

It is with peculiar pleasure that the names of the 
honorable gentlemen who distinguished themselves by 



312 Life and Times of John A. Sutter. 

coming to the relief of this kind and good man are 
recorded here. 

He had been despoiled of possessions that would 
have classed him at that time with x\stor and Vander- 
bilt. He had founded on the Pacific shore an exten- 
sive settlement of brave, good and useful men, and 
had aided materially in bringing California under 
American rule. He had extended to American immi- 
grants the protection of a sovereign, the blessings of 
his wealth, and the treasure of his fidelity. 

Forever honored be the legislatures that so far recip- 
rocated his princely benefactions. Nor should the 
great State of California cease her demonstrations of 
gratitude till the statue of him whose name will be 
associated . long with her history adorns the rotunda 
of her capitol and his ashes are laid to rest in the shade 
of the New Helvetia he loved, where the unmeasured 
strains of the beautiful river, as it flows on, may min- 
gle with his benedictions forever. 




Kr.-:^— - 



IIVDEX. 



PAGE. 

Sutter 's Family and Early Life 7 

The Fort * 19 

Early Visitors 24 

Russian Purchase 29 

The Brass Cannon 31 

California Horses and Cattle 32 

The Coming of Fremont 34 

The Digger Mill 36 

The Distillery and Other Enterprises 37 

Explorations and Improvements 38 

Harvesting Sixty Years Ago 41 

Flogging Adam 44 

Indian Labor and Wages 46 

The Castro Rebellion 48 

The Fort Completed 55 

Carriages 55 

Echoes of Civilization 58 

Execution of Raphero 58 

Fremont at Hawk 's Peak 63 

Black Eagle 66 

The Web-foot Story 70 

Extracts from Sutter Diary 71 

The Bear Flag Revolution 79 

The Status of Mexico 80 

''The Broncho Buster" 82 

The Junta 85 

The Immigrants and Mexico 's Promises 92 

Castro 's Plans 93 

The Capture of Sonoma 96 

Ide 's Proclamation 102 

The Bear Flag 105 

The Rescue of Tod 107 

Cowey and Fowler 108 

Fremont in Command 110 



11 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Another Extract from Sutter's Diary Ill 

^Conquest of California 117 

Historical Bearings 117 

The Ostend Manifesto 120 

Acquisition of California 123 

San Pedro and Los Angeles 127 

The Capture of Larkin 128 

Battle of San Gabriel 181 

Investment of San Luis Obispo 132 

Battle of Salinas 134 

Fall of San Juan 135 

Defeat of Francisco Sanches 136 

The ]\Iacnamara Scheme 137 

The Walla Walla Alarm 140 

The Reed-Donner Party 148 

White Horse and Picket 155 

Massacre of Marcus Whitman 157 

The Mormons and the Flag 158 

Earl}^ California Society.. 162 

James W. Marshall 167 

The Gold Find 173 

The Secret Out 178 

Sutter After the Gold Find 179 

The Great Carnival 181 

Conveyance of Sutter 's Estate 189 

The First Constitutional Convention 190 

Notice to Squatters 191 

The Squatter Riots 192 

Squatter Proclamation 194 

The Squatter Mutiny on the Levee 197 

From the Daily Times of August 15, 1850 200 

From the Daily Times of August 16, 1850 203 

Dispatch to General Winn 205 

Strong's Proclamation 208 

Restoring of Quiet 208 

General Sutter's Losses 211 

The City of Sacramento 218 

Sale of Concert Tickets 219 

Ellen Buzzell 221 



INDEX. Ill 

PAGE. 

Andrews to Sutter 221 

General Sutter's Reply 222 

First Grand Ball in Sacramento 223 

The ''Hounds" of 1849 224 

The Vigilance Committee 226 

Committee Addresses the People of California. 236 

The National Guard 243 

Constitution of the Committee of Vigilance of 

San Francisco 249 

Freight Transportation 252 

The Camel Train 258 

The Fidelity of a Horse 260 

Overland Mail 262 

The Pony Express 267 

Ben Holliday 273 

Bill of Fare 278 

Bull Fights 280 

Sutter's Portrait 281 

Bryant Dines with Sutter 282 

First Paper and First Judiciary in Sacramento .... 283 

Gambling 283 

A Joyous Reunion 284 

Notice of Sutter 284 

Sutter's Saw 285 

Marriage of Sutter 's Daughter 286 

Peter Lassen 287 

James Lick 294 

Death of E. V. Sutter 299 

The Last Days of General John A. Sutter 300 

Governor Lowe to Congress 303 

An Alta Editorial 304 

The Fort in Ruins 308 

Sutter Relief Fund 311 



